Penguin Madness
by candysweets
Summary: Skipper has kept many things from his team, as well as his friends... many deep dark secrets that could threaten their vary lives. As guilt eats away at his core, one little lemur holds the key to the memories he has long since forgotten.
1. Chapter 1: Meet Mina

Hello, guys! This is my first time writing for _The Penguins, _so please please please tell me how I did! Constructive criticism is welcome, although all flames will be banished!!!

Also, this story may also include a Skipper/Marlene pairing..... What do you guys think?

Okay, beyond this point is the magicalness of the story... Hope you guys enjoy!!!

(Also, tell me what you think about the title as it is subject to change...)

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Marlene stood with a lead pipe in her paws, glaring daggers at the self-proclaimed lemur King as he cowardly hid behind his "subject" Maurice, who stared up at the steaming otter in fear, wondering if she would really hit them or not. Judging from the blazing look in her eyes, he backed up into Julien as a natural reaction, sending them both tumbling off the lemur's green bouncy and onto the hard pavement of their enclosure.

"Maurice! Your buttocks has done it again! It has pushed me off of the royal bouncy! I will be sure to punish your large bottom harshly!" Julian barked at a dizzy Maurice, who's face suddenly turned to terror.

"King Julian, look out!" The shorter, stouter lemur leaped up and yanked him out of the way just moments before their enemy landed on the ground. an almost manic look in her fuming brown eyes.

"Marlene...look...it was an accident, Julian didn't mean to destroy your birthday cake! ...and your party...and your gift...but I assure you he's very very--" Maurice frantically tried to explain, that is until the taller ring-tailed lemur cut him off,

"Outraged and offended that you did not enjoy my very lovely party gift! Now what is this you are saying? Me? The lemur party King actually _ruining_ something that he is King of? Oh, no. no. no. no! Make her take it back, Maurice!" He pointed at her, making a few wild hand gestures, before crossing his arms in a pout.

Maurice slapped a paw to his face, King Julien never ceased to amaze him sometimes....

"Yeah, uh huh. Your so called_ 'gift_' ruined everything! You greedy little... Oh when I get my paws on you, you are going to wish that Kowalski would have built a time machine!" She lunged for him, but was instantly stopped by Mort, who had grabbed onto her feet, halting her sudden attack.

"Mort?! What the... What are you doing now!"

"Please don't hurt King Julian!" He looked up at her with the saddest, biggest eyes she had ever seen in her life, and as usual, the smallest lemur's natural talent to be adorable melted her heart.

She slowly shifted her gaze to Julian, who was once again quivering behind Maurice. Feeling her gaze upon him, he quickly flashed her a sheepish grin and waved.

"Fine Julien..." She growled out."Your off the hook this time, although by all means and rights, everyone here knows you shouldn't be!" She crossed her arms, obviously frustrated with the whole situation in general, threw the pipe in a random direction (which ended up slamming into Mort sending him flying) and stormed off.

Julien and Maurice stared after her for a few moments before J ulien crossed his own arms and turned to his adviser.

"Maurice... I am still very unhappy with your overly large booty for pushing me off the amazing bouncy! Please to be punishing your booty at once!" He crossed his own arms in a childish manner, before his face broke into a crazy smile. "Oh...and fix me a smoothie, mango please...." Maurice lifted himself off the ground, inwardly rolling his eyes at Julien's usual odd requests. Nonetheless, he went off to carry out his King's orders.

* * *

Marlene slowly made her way to the penguins habitat.... Err, she meant _HQ_. She wasn't sure why she had chosen this particular destination, but she knew she didn't want to be alone, and the last person she wanted to come into contact with was that deranged Ring-tail...

That seemed to be the trend around the zoo. It's not that she hated Julien. In fact, she considered him to be a friend of hers... Which is more than she could say for most of the animals in the zoo. Still, she was upset that he had shown no remorse for ruining her party. Not that she expected any more or less out from him. Still.. His usual selfish behavior seemed 10 times more annoying today, for whatever reason.

She pushed aside the fish bowl covering the secret entrance to the penguins HQ, and hopped down the hole leading to their home, without taking the pleasure of knocking, seeing as they never seemed to express the same courtesy when randomly popping up into her own quarters.

"Hey guys, wha'chya..." She stopped mid sentence, her eyes frozen to the unfolding scene of a slender young she-penguin, who was currently tending to a small cut on Skipper's, the lead penguin's, left flipper. She arched an eyebrow, wondering what on earth could have happened within the last couple of hours?

"Up too.....?" She finished awkwardly, finally deciding to walk cautiously over to the youngest penguin, Private, who she noticed sat quietly at a table, bearing a nervous expression.

"Ah!" He yelped in a fright, and within seconds he and a taller penguin known as Kowalski had a very upset Marlene pinned to the ground.

"Oh, Marlene... It's only you. So sorry!" Private, the youngest of the group, frantically backtracked, releasing her arm at once. He looked around nervously.

"D-Did Mina see that?" He stuttered, nervously glancing towards Skipper and the female penguin tending to his minor wound.

Kowalski scanned the area. "Luckily....no."

Marlene stood up and crossed her arms, once again arching an eyebrow.

"Wait wait wait... Okay, Who exactly, _is_ Mina?"

"She scares me..." Private whimpered.

"Skipper will probably want to organize a proper introduction later." Kowalski himself looked a bit uneasy.

"Uh, anyway, s-sorry about your party Marlene..." Private changed the subject, though Marlene could tell his mind was far from the the party.

"Yes... It was quit the inconvenience that Julian gave you his annoyingly adorable little subject. A pathetic attempt at a gift, I might say so myself." Kowalski added. He did not look quit as nervous as Private, though she could tell his mind was also elsewhere.

Rico walked up to them, and a moment later, coughed up a stick of dynamite. With a manic grin and a vengeful look in his eye, he madly pointed to the weapon, hoping she'd agree. Whatever had been effecting the other's did not seem to have done the same to Rico.

"Ah, Mort didn't mean any real harm... After all, he's just a baby!" She shrugged it off, hiding any true disappointment with her usual perky grin, and taking a few nervous steps away from Rico and his dynamite.

"Maybe next time Rico..." Kowalski comforted his friend, patting his back with a flipper, as Marlene relaxed a bit.

"Bedside's, I think Julien got his just desserts." The otter reassured with an evil smile, remembering the terror in the fake King's eyes as she chased him around with a metal pipe.

"So anyway... Who's this Mina you guys mentioned earlier?" She quickly changed the subject upon realizing all eyes now focused on her.

"Marlene! What are you doing here?!" Skipper's voice bellowed from across the room, noticing her presents for the first time. In seconds, he had her shoulders in a firm grip .

"What!" Marlene exclaimed, startled at his sudden actions. "I-I just wanted..." She searched for something to say.. Luckily, she didn't have too.

"How on earth did you manage to bypass security?" He released her to glare at his men accusingly.

All three penguins looked at the floor shamefully.

"Hmm... Unauthorized personal in th e Penguin Headquarters?" The penguin Marlene guessed had to be Mina, walked up beside Skipper, wearing a skeptical glare.

"Whoa, whoa, wait... Unauthorized Personal?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, yeah... Someone wanna explain what's going on around here? Who's this?"

Skipper sighed. This was going to be a long day.

"Marlene... This is Mina. She's new to the zoo, a true army's brat, and a fine nurse to fallen recruits. She's worked with some of the best drill Sergeants on several different continents." Skipper filled her in, his face wore a tired smile.

"It's truly quite an honor to be in her presence."

The she-penguin smiled politely.

"I'll whip these boys into shape." She grinned at them, before turning to Marlene.

"Nice to meet you, lower mammal." Mina held out a friendly flipper. Marlene gritted her teeth. _Lower Mammal?_ Who gave this bird any right to judge her like that?

"Right... Ya know, I have a name.. Yeah, it's _Marlene._" She replied with only a hint of resentment in her tone.

"Right." Mina smiled confidently.

"Oookay, I believe Marlene was just leaving." Skipper jumped in hastily. Seeing where this was going, it was a basic maneuver to try and prevent a possible cat fight.

"I was? Wait, what?" She whipped around to glare daggers at him.

"_Marlene_.... " He pulled her aside, cupped his flipper around her ear. "Mina is here under _vary_ important, classified business! And we don't need anyone getting on her bad side!" He whispered fiercely, before releasing her.

Marlene never got a chance to register this, or even make an attempt at coming up with a reply, because at that vary moment...

"Hello, neighbors!" An all too familiar voice reached their ears. The two turned simultaneously to come face to face with none other than King Julien himself; the route of the penguin's normal annoyance. Trailing behind him were his two lemur "subjects" Maurice and Mort. They were the only ones who had come with him on his grand trip to Africa, and eventually, the Central Park Zoo. Why or how they had came there exactly, remained a mystery.

Marlene, upset and on the verge of a mental break down, let out a frustrated scream while Skipper palmed his face.

"Ring-tail?! I demand to know how _you_ of all mammals got past our new security system!"

Kowalski instinctively began writing things down on his clipboard, trying to come up with an answer for his leader.

"We came to steal-- I mean borrow some delicious foods!" Julien exclaimed happily.

Skipper merely stood there with a blank expression on his face, motionless. Though Marlene could have sworn she could see a trail of steam rising from the top of his head.

Getting the feeling the penguins were in no giving mood, Julien quickly pushed Mort and Maurice towards the refrigerator.

"Hurry my, subjects! We are having no time to be wasting. To the magic box of food stuffs! PUSH, Y OU LAZY LEMURS! PUSH!!" He screamed frantically, and began jumping up and down much like a mad man, or a little child throwing a temper tantrum. The two lemurs did as they were told, only they weren't nearly as strong as Julien would have liked, because the refrigerator barely even budged.

Rico appeared beside Skipper. spat up a BB-gun, and handed it to him. Marlene let out a gasp, and covered her mouth. She knew Julian was annoying, but this was going a bit too far, even for him...

"Skipper don't you think that's going a bit too... Oh I don't know... _ far?!_"

He glanced at her, but kept the gun trained on the lemurs.

"I have to agree with Marlene, Skipper! Julian doesn't mean any real damage..." Private spoke up nervously, regretting having ever spoken.

"Maybe you two are onto something.... Wouldn't want to see perfectly good ammo wasted on such a minor cause."

Once again, Rico sighed sadly as Skipper handed the gun back to him.

Private and Marlene let out a breath of relief, and Kowalski walked over to once again, console his fire loving friend.

"Now get the heck out of here Ring-tail, before I change my mind!"

"A King leaves whenever a King pleases! How could you not know this penguin? How tiny is that little brainy thing of yours!" He exclaimed, momentarily forgetting the refrigerator that his two subjects were hopelessly trying to push, to walk over and tap Skipper on the head.

The lead penguin seethed as everyone (besides Julien, who had crossed his arms and was currently glaring at Skipper) backed away.

"Get out! All of you!" He pushed Julien and his posse, along with Marlene, towards the ladder.

"Oh there's no need for that... We can just take Julien's _secret passageway._" Marlene shot him a cold glare as she passed. Julien merely leaped for joy and rambled on about kings and secret doors, while Maurice and Mort merely followed behind them, relieved they no longer had to move the heavy object.

Marlene placed her paw to a certain brick and as if by magic, it slid over to create an opening.

"Just get outta here, all of you!" Skipper barked, and moments later, the four quickly sped into the opening and the brick slid back to it's original place, but not before Marlene gave Skipper one last death glare.

He put a flipper to his aching forehead, and simply stood there.

Private walked up, gave him a look of concern.

"Are you alright, Skipper?"

"Never been better, Private." He reassured, though his voice lacked the same authority it usually held.

Somewhere in the mist of all the chaos, Mina was standing off in a distance, just close enough to receive a great view of everything that had just unfolded, yet she had made sure to stay far enough not to be noticed. silently watching them, she wrote down notes of all the events she had witnessed.

She eventually walked up to the others, a wide grin spread across her face.

"Well done, Skipper. They won't be back anytime soon... In the meantime, we need to improve security."

* * *

Julien sat on his thrown, which was really only a funny looking chair made of wood, knees hugged to his chest, sulking.

Marlene, having nothing better to do and still not feeling the mood to be alone, had reluctantly followed him and the others back to the lemur habitat. She paced back and forth angrily, still upset that Skipper had kicked her out... _her_ , of all animals! Weren't they supposed to be friends?

"I can't believe that penguin..." She paced back and forth. She had been doing this for awhile now.

"I mean, who does he think he is? Kicking _me _out...I mean _me_ of all... I thought we were friends!"

Julian glanced down at her.

"What are you to be meaning?" He stood up and laughed as if she had just uttered the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard.

"Why are you acting oh so surprised, Marlene? The silly penguin does not have friends... But what he does have is that magic box of food stuffs I am to be borrowing!" He glared at Maurice and Mort. Each exchanged a sheepish look, and came forward.

"We're working on it, your Majesty." Maurice said with a crooked grin.

"We'll get your magic food box!" Mort exclaimed happily, lunging for Julien's feet.

"Do** not** touch the feet!" He screamed, sending the youngest lemur rocketing into the sky.

Marlene stopped and placed her paws on her hips.

"Wait, hold up, wait a sec! Of course Skipper has friends! What about Private, Kowalski, and Rico! They're his friends..." She glared at the ground.

Julien merely let out a boisterous laugh, and slung a lazy arm around the otter's shoulders.

"Oh Marlene... My silly willy otter friend.. They are _not_ his friends. They are his _slaves._ Would you just look at the way he is constantly ordering them around? Not like me... I am a great, noble king who does not treat his subjects as slaves like the silly penguin.... Ha! He is not even King! Eh, excuse me for a minute..." He marched over to Maurice.

"Maurice! Why are you not blowing more air into my bouncy? Blow, you naughty little monkey!"

"But you just said--"

"I said blow, Maurice! Or I will to be most personally make sure you will be punished quite harshly!"

"Yes Sir..." The shorter of the two stalked off to do as he was told.

Marlene watched the scene unfold, and merely rolled her eyes. She glared at the penguins habitat, just across from the lemurs.

"He has no right to kick me out..." She whined.

"Actually, it is _his_ home. So technically... He does kind of have that privilege." Maurice muttered as he passed.

"But, but, but I've never kicked him out of _my_ house!" She protested stubbornly, refusing to admit she was wrong.

"Actually Marlene... You have... Or at least you have tried... But do not be sweating over such an unimportant little thing such as the penguin! He kicks me out all of the time... And _I _am king of things!" He said angrily.

"Yeah... Well... I am going to go over there and give Skipper a piece of my mind!" She headed in the direction of the penguins HQ.

"Wait! Eh... When you do, would you mind exchanging it for the magic box of food stuffs?"


	2. Chapter 2: Late Night Arrival

Hey, guys! Thank you SO much for the reviews! You guys do not know how happy they make me! Haha. XD Please, please continue to tell me how you like it!

(And for all you Skipper/Marlene fans out there, this will eventually take that turning point, though it will do it in a subtle sort of way for a while. =) )

**Disclaimer: **(Forgot to put this in the last chapter, hehe.) Sadly, I own absolutely nothing...except my own original characters, and maybe Juliens bouncy...,,

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"Private, what, exactly, _are_ you doing?" Mina raised a disapproving eyebrow at a cowering Private, who was currently curled up in the corner of his concrete bunk in fetal position, tightly clutching onto a small teddy bear in the late hours of night. She read his eyes. A mixture of sorrow and fear stared back at her.

He looked up slowly at the sound of her voice, noticing her presence for the first time since he had woken from a most terrible nightmare. He glanced down at the little brown teddy he was holding, then to a disapproving Mina. His gaze fell in shame.

"I... Forgive me, Mina I... My mum gave me this teddy... It-It was the last I can remember of her, before they took her away...I hold onto it sometimes when I've had a fright." The young penguin stammered, desperately struggling to keep his emotions in tact.

"You know... A true soldier has numbed all of his emotions so that petty things, such as fear, or the tragedies of everyday life, do not effect his performance. That is part of what makes him or _her _ready for anything. " She said flatly, crossing her flippers.

"I-I know, Mina, but..."

"No 'buts' soldier, and no security blankets, either." She held out her flipper for him to hand it over.

Private whimpered. Sulkily, he finally gave into her request, and ever so gently placed the bear in Mina's flipper, but not before hugging it close to him one last time.

"Goodbye teddy.... Be good." He whispered brokenly, turning away before she could see the tears just beginning to spill down his face.

"That's more like it, Private. Soon you won't even know he's gone. You'll forget all about him... It's all part of being in the service. It'll get easier, trust me." She smiled a little, pleased with his obedience. Without another word to Private, she walked off to find Skipper, who had been standing by a large metal door, another secret entry, on guard duty.

She placed the bear on the table in front of him so that he could see, and sent him a glare.

"You still allow your Private to sleep with a teddy bear?"

He crossed his flippers defensively.

"Hey! I don't watch my men every single minute they sleep... That would just be... Disturbing." He shot back in a loud whisper.

"How was I supposed to know Private has been sleeping with a security teddy?"

"Because your his Skipper, Skipper! Your supposed to know every little detail, every little insecurity, so that you can better train your men, shape them into better soldiers."

"Well in my defense... I do know _everything_ that goes on around _this_ place! Every single detail. That's gotta' count for something. A _big_ something."

Right as he said that, a shrill scream echoed in their ears from somewhere inside the zoo.

They each turned towards the exit. Mina looked at Skipper expectantly to see his reaction.

"You were saying?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"Right... Men, on your feet at once!" He commanded. Within seconds, his team shot out of their bunks and onto the concrete floor, aligned in appropriate formation, and awaited orders from their leader. Though their performance was a bit flawed, due to the sudden wake up call at such a late hour.

"We have another code red! Now you'll get to see some _real _action." He grinned towards Mina.

Moments later, Skipper and his team had fled up the ladder and flipped onto the pavement outside their enclosure. The leader of the penguin quartet pressed himself against the wall, and cautiously peaked around the corner.

Across the sidewalk sat what seemed to be a small wooden box with a faded picture of animals on the front. Attached to one side, left forgotten for the moment, was a note. Private let out a quiet gasp when the box began to move as something inside it frantically tried to escape.

"Skipper, that box is moving!" He exclaimed nervously.

"Steady Private.... We don't know what's in that box. It could be an enemy. A cruel vicious creature ready to rip our very limbs off at any given chance." Skipper warned. He eyed the box carefully, keeping his distance.

Seconds after he spoke, the front wall of the box flew open, and out tumbled something very small and black in color, making it hard for the penguins to determine what type of creature this was in the dark.

"Rico !"

At his leader's command, the bulky penguin regurgitated a pair of night vision goggles and handed them to Skipper.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" The young voice of a curious female found it's way into their ears.

Skipper looked through the lens, gasping at what he saw.

"Holy fish sticks! A lemur!" He exclaimed in horror, motioning for his team to stay back as he slid on his stomach to confront this newcomer. If this lemur was anything like Julien, heaven help them all...

His sudden actions must have taken her by surprise because the little animal let out a screech and ducked behind the box in which she had came from.

"Who are you? What do you want?" The lemur peaked her head around to catch a glimpse of the stranger in question. Her voice did not portray fear, only suspicion.

"At ease, newcomer. We're friendlies... " Skipper motioned for his team to come out of hiding.

"For now, at least."

As he finished, Rico, Kowalski, and Private had appeared beside him.

"Aww... It's alright little one, we won't hurt you. It's okay..." Private, feeling bad for the lemur, tried to reassure her, putting on the kindest smile he could muster.

"I'm Private." He held out a flipper.

"Private! What are you doing? She could be a vicious killer! We'll soon enough know if this whole 'innocent' act is for real or not." He scolded, giving him a light slap across the face.

"Innocent act?" The lemur smirked, abandoning her hiding place, she flipped off the ground, and landed on Skipper, pinning him.

"Beginner's luck." Skipper murmured. He tried pushing her off but her size had deceived him, it proved to be a harder task than he had originally expected, noticing she had caught a pressure point.

"Hey, what's the meaning of this?" He glared up at her.

She smirked. "Just a little fun." Finally though, she flipped off of him and smoothly made her landing on the ground, a few feet away from him.

The other penguins stared on in wonderment at how such a small creature could posses the skill to pin their leader. Though they each stared at the ground when they caught Skipper's glare.

Now that they were able to catch a clear view of her under the street light, the penguins looked up, taking the time to analyze the lemur's features. Her body was slender, though she stood only inches taller than Mort. Her eyes were a deep sapphire blue, and a mysterious scar ran just under her left eye. Skipper noticed she wore an odd studded choker around her neck. She was a strange looking lemur, he decided, to say the least. His ego still recovering from the previous event.

He eyed her carefully. There was something about this lemur he didn't trust. First of all, being the fact that she was indeed a lemur, the same type of breed as King Julien.

"State your name, newcomer." He ordered.

"The name's Rita, if you _must_ know. And you are...?" She smiled a little, taking a few steps forward. Though it was hard to determine whether it was a friendly smile, or one of mystery.

"Classified, until further notice."

"It's nice to meet you Rita, I'm Private! Skipper gave Rico a look, in which must have told him to slap Private for his carelessness, because he did just that.

Rita sent the pyromaniac a cold glare.

"What was that for? He was only tellin' me his name. I told you guys mine, it's only fair that you return the favor." She crossed her arms.

"It looks like she's got you there Skipper, the classic rules of general human, or in this case, animal greetings." Kowalski stated, flipping through his clipboard.

"So... Your Skipper." Rita grinned at him, while Skipper merely glared at Kowalski and cursed under his breath.

"Yes... And what, exactly, are your reasons for entering the premises?"

She gave him a funny look, like he had just spoken in a completely different language.

"Look...I didn't _choose_ to come here, okay? I don't even know _why_ I'm here. All I remember is a really scared looking human crated me up, and sent me here. Uh. Wherever _here_ is." She looked around, surveying her surroundings, she tried to determine where she was.

"You're in New York's Central Park Zoo, little lemur." Skipper clarified.

"But why would an animal arrive at the zoo in such late hours of the night, Skipper?" Private asked, placing a thoughtful flipper to his chin.

"Unless the humans don't know one has arrived..." Kowalski shared a look with Rico, who only nodded with that same crazy grin on his face.

" Hmm... A good theory Kowalski, but how can we know for sure?"

Private turned to Rita.

"Rita, do the humans know your here?"

"No, the humans who sent me here wanted to keep it some sort of a secret. Uh.. No big deal, right? You know humans."

She answered hesitantly, with a nervous laugh.

"But why?" Skipper asked.

Rita bit her lip and turned away. "I don't know why." She said, making careful effort to keep her tone emotionless.

" Kowalski, give us options." Skipper ordered, turning to face him.

"We could leave her out here in this box for our human superiors to find in the morning, like the original senders intended, or we could build a rocket, and shoot her right back to where she came from."

Skipper seemed to ponder this, before shaking his head.

"A rocket ship would never do..."

Rita quickly jumped it at that.

"Hey, wait just a minute ! First of all, there is _no way_ you guys are sending me off in a_ rocket,_ and second of all, there is no way I'm just going to sit here and let the humans find me. _Humans_ are the reason I'm in this mess to begin with, I'm getting outta' here." She turned to leave. Skipper did not like this in the least... She acted too much like she was hiding something. Man, were all lemurs like this?

"Hence why I was trying to _escape_ that horrible trap." Rita shuddered as she passed.

"Hey, wait a minute! We can't just let you leave..." Skipper ran ahead, placed his flippers firmly on her shoulders to stop her from walking any farther.

"And why not?" She leaped a few steps back, glared at him.

"This zoo is Penguin territory, lemur. It's our job to ensure things go smoothly around here. Besides, you could be holding back valuable information..."

Rita shot him a look. "What? I--"

"The only other option Skipper, is to allow her into the Penguin HQ.... In hiding, to hold her for further interrogation." Kowalski cut in, his shoulders sagged. He knew full-well no unauthorized personal had ever been allowed to stay for long periods of time in the Penguin HQ, but he had ran out of options.

Skipper looked at Rita, who's gaze had wondered above his head and over the tall stone wall, where it was obvious she was planning an escape. He finally returned his eyes back to Kowalski.

He sighed.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. Commence operation: Keep the suspect hidden!"

"Wait... Oh no... No way are you taking me prisoner! I'm not letting you take me_ anywhere._" Rita yelled, she turned on heel to bolt, but was instantly tackled to the ground by Rico. He pinned her to the pavement, and flashed a devious grin.

Rita glared up at him. "I don't think so, buddy!"

She snapped angrily. Despite her small size, she must have kneed him pretty hard in the gut, because the bulky penguin let out a grunt and flopped over, off of her, on his side.

"Tootles." She flashed them a sassy grin, and sprinted off.

Skipper and the others watched her run off, although Rita was not familiar with the territory of the zoo, so therefore failed to notice the huge pot hole where a group of construction workers had left unattended.

"Rita look out! " Private yelled out. Despite his good intentions, the sudden noise startled the lemur. She let a gasp, tripped, and fell right into the hole.

After that, the sound of the lemur's shrill screams were all they could hear.

Skipper gave his men a look of dread, remembering the dangers the sewer beheld.

He read each of his recruits facial expressions. Even though no one dare spoke it out loud, it was no secret that none of the penguins wanted to go down and face the "_King_" of sewer rates again.

Skipper sighed. He should have expected as much.

"Men, stay here. I'll signal if I need backup." Before any of them could protest, he leaped down the pot hole, leaving the three to worriedly stare after him.

"You think Skipper will be alright down there?" Private asked, concerned for his leader, and mentor.

"I don't like the looks of this.." Kowalski muttered, remembering Skipper's last encounter with the large sewer rat... He had thought he was a goner.

Rico let out a sad grunt.

* * *

Rita landed on the hard pavement with a sickening thud. She closed her eyes in a n attempt to will away the pain in her back... It felt as as her whole body was on fire. She suddenly heard a splash. A few droplets of cold water reached her face, causing the young lemur to shoot up a little too quickly, sending a sharp pain coursing down her spine. Rita cursed, angry with herself for being so careless.

"Careful, lemur." A familiar voice reached her ears. It was the penguin from the zoo.

"He-Hey...stay away from me!" She stammered. Rita tried to stand, but her legs betrayed her.

Skipper let out a sigh.

"You lemurs never learn, do you?" He inwardly rolled his eyes, waddled over to where Rita was currently trying to get away. She had spunk, he would give her that.

"Hey, hey... Stop struggling, would you? You'll only make it worse." He scooped her up in his flippers, much to her dismay, though she had decided the pain was too much to continue putting up a fight.

Skipper knew Rita was small... She was thinner than Mort, and only slightly taller. He could feel her ribs sticking out through her thick black fur.

"Good gravy lemur, don't you ever eat?" He asked, shifting her in his flippers to a more comfortable position.

"Why do you care?" She snapped, though the pain in her voice betrayed her icy tone.

He never had time to answer, at that vary moment, a deep chuckle hid somewhere in the darkness.

Skipper froze, knowing all to well who it belonged too.

Rita, who wanted nothing more than to just fall asleep and forget about the days events, jerked fully awake.

"What was that?" She asked, glancing carefully at the darkness that seemed as though it would swallow them whole at any given moment.

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"And just what do you think _your_ doing here?"

Marlene jumped at the all too familiar, strict voice of Mina.

She stopped where she was, one foot frozen on the ladder that led into the penguins HQ.

"I-I was just..." She stuttered, before reminding herself that she did not have to answer to Mina, or anyone, for that matter.

"I was just looking for Skipper." She said, more confidently now. Marlene hopped off the ladder and walked up to the penguin, who came up to her chin in height.

"Well you won't find him here... He's gone off on a mission, the information of his whereabouts is classified of course." She stated flatly.

Marlene looked at the floor for a moment, finally bringing her gaze back to Mina.

"Oh... Of course. Sure. Well, when he comes back... Tell him I said--"

"Skipper's in trouble!" Kowalski shouted. He and the others were down the ladder in seconds.

"What?!" Marlene turned to them in surprise, trying not to appear overly concerned.

"What happened?"

"We'll explain later, right now Skipper needs us!" Kowalski sounded uncharacteristically frantic.

"Well then let's--"

"We have no time to waste." Kowalski pushed passed her, over to Mina. He turned to Marlene's annoyed expression.

""Sorry Marlene, but your not apart of the team. You aren't trained to handle situations like this." He apologized, grabbing Mina and heading towards the ladder. She ripped her flipper out of his grip, and quickly led the others up the ladder. All except Private, who was instructed to stay behind.

He cautiously turned to Marlene. He flinched when he realized she had her back turned to him.

"Umm... I-I'm sorry Marlene... Kowalski didn't mean to..." He stopped, searching for the right words.

She whipped around to face him. Private gulped.

"I'm fine." She growled through gritted teeth.

"Look Marlene... Sure things are different around here now that...." He stopped, shuddering a little.

"Now that..._M-Mina _is here... But Skipper says we should all just get used to it."

"What is this you are saying? Getting used to what? Oh, please tell me! I do love the juicy secrets!" Julien appeared beside Private with Mort and Maurice.

"Apparently a new penguin named _Mina,_ or something came to the zoo earlier today, and everyone's been acting funny all day, especially Skipper!" Marlene exclaimed, whipping around to face him. She tried desperately to hide the anger in her tone.

Julien looked confused for a moment, before his face broke into a huge knowing grin.

"Ooooh, I know what is going on here! _You_ have a little crushy crush on th e silly penguin, and you are now _jealous_ of this new flightless bird! Afraid she will steal your man... Ah.. It all makes sense now." He fell to the ground in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"What? Are you crazy? That's ridiculous!" She defended herself, growing more irritated by the minute.

"Oooh, but yes! You do! Why else would you be caring?"

"Umm... guys?" Private spoke up nervously, he hated it when any of them fought.

The two ignored him, instead only focusing on their argument.

"I care because it's a little weird that a random penguin just shows up at the zoo, unannounced!" Marlene bit back.

"Noo... Is it because you are _jealous!_"

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is!"

"Not!"

"Is!"

"NOT!"

By this point, Marlene was inches away from Julien's face. She had taken on a fighting stance, and looked as if she would kill the ring-tailed lemur at any given moment. While Julien wore a huge grin, convinced that he had already won this fight.

"Guys!" Private cried, running between the two to prevent Julien's demise... He had no doubt the otter would win in a fight. Although she was slightly shorter than Julian, the lemur knew nothing when it came to throwing a punch.

"Come on, you two are friends! Why are you fighting like this? Killing is frowned upon you know, in most societies!" He said this turning to Marlene, who had taken a few steps back, her face showed the essence of annoyance.

Before she could respond, Julien opened his big mouth to speak.

"Denial... the first sign of jealously. I knew it." He ignored Private, and grinned at the seething Marlene.

"Skipper and Marlene sitting in a tree... K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" He said in a sing song tone, dancing around her joyfully. Whether the fact was true or not, he was loving every minute of this.

That was it... The last straw. Marlene grabbed one of the forgotten bowling pins (the penguins use as "_Ninjas_" to train with) laying on the floor, and bolted after Julien.

"I guess that's why America is a free country. I'm going to _kill you, Julien!"_

Mort and Maurice leaped out of the way in opposite directions to avoid getting hit.

Private put his flippers to his mouth to quiet a gasp.

"On dear... Marlene, watch out! That's a very dangerous ninja!" He tried to warn her, but she ignored him.

"Ya know, she does sort of act like she has a crush on him." Maurice whispered to Mort as they watched Marlene chase their King around the room.

The little lemur giggled in agreement.

They each ducked out of the way when a huge flying metal object came hurling their way.

"NOOO! That was the magic box of food stuffs!" Julien looked as if he would cry for a moment, before his face turned angry.

"You will pay for dat, otter!" He ran after her, attempted to throw a punch, which she easily dodged.

"Is that all you got, Julien? I thought Kings were supposed to be good fighters?" She taunted, leaping up on the penguins old television.

"Guys... Guys! Please, this isn't helping anything!" Private tried again, ducking when an old rotting fish came flying his way.

"Take that, silly otter!" Julien ran after her, knocking down several various items of the penguins in the process.

"O-On second thought.... Go ahead, kill each other. Just don't hurt me!" Private ran for cover, quivering behind the couch.

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P.S. The next chapter might be a little delayed, considering I'm leaving for church camp on Monday, which is about a week, but I'll try to get the next one up as soon as possible. =)


	3. Chapter 3: Fiesty Determination

Oh my gosh....thank you guys SO much for the reviews!!! They are all muchly appreciated!!! You guys rock! Please continue to tell me how I'm doing. =)

(P.S. I'm sorry this took so long, I just got back from camp a few days ago and yesterday I tried out for American Idol and failed of course...but it was still fun, and I made it on camera! XD)

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"Shhh!" Skipper used a flipper to hold her mouth shut.

"Hey! Lfpt mfe gfo!" Rita glared up at him. Her voice was muffled due to his flipper. She contemplated biting him, but decided against it, remembering how it felt to collide with the pavement.

"Just what do you think your doing in _my_ domain, bird? Haven't you had enough beatings?" Out from the shadows appeared a giant sewer rat. Rita's eyes widened. She had never seen such big muscles on a rodent before, nor did she ever think she'd see one the size of this.

"Although, I kind of like the little pet you've brought."

"Pet?! Listen up bu--"

Skipper once more clamped a flipper over her mouth.

"Don't listen to her, we were just leaving."

"Or were you?" The massive rodent took a few steps forward. He grabbed onto Rita's tail.

She let out a yelp, wriggled her mouth out of Skipper's grip, and sunk her teeth deep into the rats paw.

The rat released her tail at once and leaped back, startled at the sudden act of courage from such a tiny creature. Rita had quit the bravery to back-up her feisty personality, Skipper now knew... Maybe too much for her own good.

"That'll teach you to keep your paws to yourself, rodent." She spat out, sending him daggers with her eyes, mentally wishing that somehow they would turn into lasers and cut him into pieces.

"Why you little pipsqueak, you better start thinking of some pretty good last words lemur, because I'm going to make you eat'em!"

He seethed, breathing heavily in anger.

"I'd like to see you try, mousy. Bring it on, Mr. Hulk!" She mocked, sticking her tongue out at him and making a face.

"Rita, can I ask you something?" Skipper asked as he began nervously backing up with her still in his flippers.

"Shoot."

"Do you have some sort of a death wish, or something?"

She chuckled a little. A smile of mischief overtook her expression.

"What's the fun in life, without the danger? Besides, I'm not afraid of him."

"Oh, your not afraid? Well, that's about to change pipsqueak... _Real fast_." The rat growled the last word. He came towards them, balling his paws into angry fists.

"Well your no coward kid, I'll give you that. However, stupidity is another matter entirely." Skipper said, backing up even farther. She only smirked in response. He finally felt his back collide with the wall, and for the first time in a long time, he truly felt afraid, and he hated himself for it. Skipper was supposed to be the strong one... Heck, this was the kind of thing he was trained for! _He_ was the one who was supposed to be fearless, Not Rita. Not some young lemur kid he had just met not even hours ago.

He turned abruptly and dropped her on the ground.

"Hey! That hurt, bozo." She sent him a death glare, rubbed her back in an attempt to ease the pain.

"Just lay low, keep your mouth shut, and stay here. Got it, lemur?" Skipper's voice left no room for argument.

Surprising him, this time Rita did not attempt an escape. She simply sat there. The angered annoyance she held in her eyes had vanished, in it's place left only the same mysterious curiosity they usually held.

She cocked her head in surprise when she seen him step in front of her, and take a fighting stance.

"So let me get this straight.... _You..._ Are going to take on _that thing....?" _

"Hey! What did I say about talking?" He glanced behind, signaling for her to zip it.

The sewer rat breathed a deep chuckle.

"You really think you have a chance, bird?"

"I have better than that, Kingy." He moved quickly, leaped on his head, taking the giant by surprise.

The fight had a nasty beginning when the sewer rat threw Skipper against the brick wall, hard.

Rita watched this, and rolled her eyes.

"And he says _I'm_ the one with a death wish." She muttered to no one in particular.

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Julien lie, smacked face-first, into the concrete wall of the Penguin's HQ. Private had actually began to wonder if they had just received a new wall decoration. Ever so cautiously, he made his way out from behind the couch. The young penguin glanced around, shuddering at the damage the two had done in such a short amount of time.

The television lie on it's side, the screen shattered into tiny pieces. Various items of all kind were strewn out on the floor as if a tornado had just come through their home, destroying anything in it's path.

He finally caught site of Marlene, who was only a few feet away from Julien. She was breathing heavily as if she'd just run a marathon, with a baseball bat clutched firmly in her paws. Pure anger burned within her eyes as she glared down at Julien, even as he slid to the ground much like a carpet would had it been thrown against the wall.

"Marlene! Wha.... What have you done?!" Private exclaimed, running over to her. He flinched when he saw Julien was now lying on the floor, motionless.

Maurice, who was sitting on a tall pile of random junk, let out a loud cheer.

"Yes! I told you she would win, Mort! I just knew it! That'll be 5 leachy nuts please."

The smaller lemur sitting beside him let out a sad sigh.

"Awww.... Poor King Julian." His ears drooped more in sadness than defeat.

"I-Is he.... D-Dead...?" Private stuttered, covering his eyes.

"Dead.....? Who is this dead person you are slspeaking....of?" Julien asked, his voice slurred as the world spun around him. His eyes fell on Marlene, then down to the bat she was still holding. He suddenly remembered what all had taken place and why he was lying on the floor with a most terrible headache, and shot up with a scream.

"Please.... Not to be hitting me with the wooden stick thingy no more!"

"Oh, I'll do more than that.." Marlene took a step forward, and would have taken another swing at him, if Private did not rush in front of her.

"Stop! Now that's enough, you guys... Look what you've done? You've almost killed each other." He took Marlene's paw in his flipper where a small cut slowly oozed a slight amount of crimson.

"I'm fine, Private." She said, ignoring the pain. Her eyes focused past the short penguin, and glared at Julien.

"Heeheehee.... Do not think you are getting off oh so easily Marlene... Now I am knowing your secret." The tall lemur stood up, wobbled a little, flashing her a crooked smile.

Marlene resisted the urge to attack him only for the sake of Private. She did not want to cause the young penguin anymore trauma then he had already suffered. Instead, she settled on rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, sure Julien. My_ 'secret' _yeah...whatever."

"Ha ha! I knew it! See? Would you just look at how smart I am?"

Right at that moment Mina and the other two penguins came bursting through the tall metal door. It slammed into Mort and Maurice, who were sitting right behind it, making perfect smashing targets.

Mina scanned the area. Perhaps she had purposely ignored the fact that there were two lemur pancakes behind the door, or maybe she didn't realize, either way Private noticed she left the door alone. Mina saw the mess that was made while she and the other's were away, before her eyes finally landed on Julien and Marlene.

"_What_ are you two _still doing here?!_" She yelled. Her furious voice boomed throughout the area.

Private jumped behind Marlene, cowering in fear, terrified she would blame this on him and he would receive some sort of punishment, while Julien let out a startled screech and leaped back.

Marlene however, simply placed her paws on her hips and turned towards Mina.

"_What...._Have you intruding savages done to this place?!" She demanded, angrily marching up to the three.

"Hey... I... Wha.. He started it!" Marlene frantically pointed to Julien. She finally took the time to look around the room and notice how many things they had broken or knocked off in their fight, and nervously gulped.

"Me?! How daring of you?! Do not be forgetting, I am _King _of things and do not make such messes! Therefore _you_ my crushy otter foe, are to blame for the messiness." Julien crossed his arms in a childish manner, and turned away.

"Quiet! Both of you! Now, out, out, OUT! We have classified business to discuss." Mina screamed, gesturing towards the open door.

"Wait a second..." Marlene suddenly looked around and noticed something.

"Where's...Skipper? Didn't you guys go out to find him, or something?" She asked, purposely walking past Mina, up to Kowalski and Rico, who she noticed bore worried, unsure expressions. It was odd, to say the least, seeing them like that. Marlene had seen the two worried before, but not like this... Something was not right.

"We... looked down the pot hole leading to the sewer and...well..." Kowalski never finished. Rico broke into hysterical tears, and Marlene let out the gasp she was holding.

"Wh-What do you mean?" She took few steps back, letting her mind wander to terrible places at the thought of what they could possibly be trying to say. Was Skipper....? No... She refused to believe it was true. Not him.. He was too strong. He wasn't gone.

If possible, Mina's anger grew and she marched up to Kowalski. He opened his beak to speak, but never got the chance as she slapped him across the face.

"Kowalski! How dare you! That is completely confidential information, and not for the outside ear to hear." She barked. Kowalski hung his head in shame and remorse.

That made Marlene mad.

"Hey! Skipper's not just a Skipper you know, He's also my _friend_, and I think I deserve to know what happened to him!" She almost yelled. Marlene breathed heavily, sick and tired of always being treated as an outsider.

"That is because the otter is....in loooove!" Julien jumped in, almost singing the last part.

Marlene shot him such a look that if looks alone possessed the ability to murder, Julien would have been long gone.

Mina swung her head back and let out a laugh. It was the first laugh any of them had ever heard erupt from her beak, and everyone had to admit, it was not a pleasant one. In fact, it only made Marlene long to punch her in the face. She balled her paws into fists and growled under her breath.

"I know what this is about.... Clever, I must admit... But not clever enough. Boys, escort the little otter spy and her undercover, disgusting little accomplice off the premises." Mina demanded, turning towards Kowalski and Rico.

Private let out a slight whimper from behind Marlene, upset that she, a newcomer to the zoo at that, would accuse his friends of such felony.

Julien's mouth dropped down to the floor.

"Oh no you did not... I am the most devilishly handsome lemur King you will ever meet, and I, your King, forbid of you to be throwing me out of here!" He shouted, absolutely appalled at the way she spoke to him. Julien crossed his arms and turned away.

Rico and Kowalski were shocked. Their gaze fell to the floor. Neither one of the two wanted to be the one to carry out Mina's harsh orders to escort their friend out of their home, a place she was normally welcomed at. Nevertheless, they knew they must fulfill their full duty as recruits.

"Woah, woah! Wait just a second here... First of all I am _not_ a spy! Second of all, _he--" _She pointed to Julian. "Is _not_ my assistant! More like my enemy at the moment."

Mina merely stuck her beak up in the air, and gave a sneer.

"Likely story, you and the nutty squirrel are in this together. You may have fooled Skipper, but the same sneaky trick will not fool the trained eye."

Mina let out a frustrated growl.

"I am not a-- Oh forget it! I'm outta here."She said coldly, storming past Rico and Kowalski, and out of the open door. Before long, she disappeared into the darkness. Private put a flipper up to stop her, but thought better of it when Mina sent him a look.

"If I wanna find Skipper, I'll find him _myself."_ Marlene whispered bitterly, before she walked out.

Back at the HQ, Private stared after her sadly, tears threatening to well in his eyes.

"M-Mina... Forgive me for saying so but... That didn't seem very nice." He stuttered in his British accent.

"From now on you all will refer to me as _General _Mina. And _nice_ won't make the army, kid. You're saying we should be kind.... to a spy? Is that right, cadet?" She walked up to him, staring down with a skeptical expression playing over her face.

The others, even King Julien, eagerly looked to Private to see his reply.

"Sorry... General Mina. In all due respect, Marlene isn't a spy... She's our friend, and she only wanted to know what happened to Skipper. We're all worried about him...." He looked as if he would burst into tears any moment, though he did a good enough job at keeping himself together, for now. He wanted to know Skipper was safe.

"Private, let me tell you something... You can't trust _anyone_ in war.. You don't make friends in the service." She told him with the same strict tone she always used, before turning to the others. She failed to noticed the single tear that escaped his eye, one he had hidden well.

"Now, concerning the rescue mission...."

"Eh.... Excuse me?" Julien spoke up, raising a paw was his way of asking permission to speak.

Mina whipped around to face him.

"Out!" She screamed.

"I was just going to ask...."

"I said OUT!"

"But..."

"GET OUT!"

"But I need to use the little lemur's resty room!"

Mina looked at him in disbelief and scoffed.

"One thing that is absolutely not allowed, and I heed warning, is never to allow enemy spies accomplish to use the Penguin HQ's restrooms!"

"But I really do have to go!"

"Me too!" Mort had appeared from behind the door with a dizzy Maurice.

"NO!" Mina yelled, breathing heavily.

"Well then where am I to go?" Julien looked around, puzzled.

"Not here!" She pushed him and the other's out the door.

"Please....?" Julian looked at her with huge puppy dog eyes, hoping his plan would work.

"And you really think I'd fall for that?"

"Eh....yes!" He looked hopeful.

"Wrong." Her expression fell blank, and she slammed the door in his face.

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"Is that all you got, bird? Your even more Pathetic than I thought." The King of sewer rats walked towards Rita with a huge grin on his face, his huge body towered above her, much like a huge cat would stock it's prey.

The lemur instantly leaped up from where she was sitting. This time her legs wobbled a little, but it wasn't long before she found her balance, and pressed herself against the wall. Rita inwardly let out a breath of relief, glad she had only had the wind knocked out of her, and did not receive any serious injuries from her fall into the sewer.

"So much for your 'great hero' huh, little lemur?"

"If you think I really need a hero to protect me, hot stuff, your sadly mistaken." She growled out, her tone became deadly serious.

He leaned his head back and let out a sinister laugh, catching Skipper in mid air when he attempted an attack from behind. Rita could have sworn she seen pure cruelty in the rat's cloudy green eyes.

"Those are strong words, for such a wimpy little creature." He walked closer to her, tightening his grip around the struggling penguin's neck, cutting off Skipper's air supply.

"Don't come any closer, or I promise you will regret it." She narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Oh, and what's a tiny little thing like you gonna do, huh? Cutify me to death with those big blue eyes of yours?"

"No. Just this." She flipped into the air, landing on his head. When he reached up to grab her with his free paw, she dodged the attack, jumped onto his shoulder.

"What's the matter, mousy? Having trouble?" He tried to grab her once again, and missed when she leaped onto one of the many metal pipes surrounding the sewer.

The rat growled in frustration, releasing Skipper to grab a hold of the pipe Rita had used her feet to cling to.

The penguin fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. He could already feel himself begin to grow faint. The world spun around him.

"When I'm through with you, your going to wish you would have never been born!" The rat yelled. Clutching the pipe in his muscular paws, he pulled hard. Rita only smirked. He must have been as dumb as she thought he was, because he failed to realize the consequences of his actions.

The pipe finally gave way to the sudden pressure, and burst, the main water flow collided with the rat, sending him shooting into the river of sewer water that flowed throughout the area.

Rita jumped down from the pipe, and landed next to Skipper, who was still trying to catch his breath.

"This isn't over pipsqueak..." The rat sent her a glare that would have frightened even the bravest of mammals as he passed, the flowing water current too much for him to fight.

She shuddered slightly, but was not one to bite her tongue.

"Bring it on." She bit back, flashing him a slight grin that told him she was not afraid, though if one were to have looked closely, they would have noticed that her eyes said differently.

"Look alive, lemur!" Skipper yelled. He leaped up at the last moment, grabbed her by the middle, and tumbled out of the way just seconds before the loose pipe fell to the ground. It was only a matter of moments before water began spewing into the river, and causing it to overflow onto the concrete sides, closing in on the two fast.

Skipper readied himself to dive into the water, but Rita looked hesitant.

He gave her a funny look.

"What's the matter? Not afraid to battle a giant mutated sewer rat 20 times your size, but yet you're scared of a little dirty water?"

She sent him a death glare, and took a few steps back.

"I almost drowned when I was little, for your information. I don't like water." She said reluctantly. Her careful eyes fell on the green water, which was moving in fast.

"Well it looks like that's about to change, sister. Just don't forget to hold your breath."

Her eyes widened to saucers.

"Oh no... _No..._ I'm not stepping another foot near that water." She refused, taking a few more steps back until she hit the wall. She glanced wearily at the incoming current and desperately wished the Teleporter existed. Apart of her mind knew there was no escaping this, though another part was trying it's hardest to convince her otherwise.

"Look, I'm not usually one to look at the glass half empty but uh.... It looks like we don't have much of a choice." He clasped his flipper firmly around her arm.

"What are you doing?"

He saw the utter terror in her eyes. Fear etched in her voice even as she uttered the words, despite her constant attempts to hide it.

"Hold onto my flipper, and you'll be fine."


	4. Chapter 4: I won't loose you

_Okay, first off I want to say that I am vary nervous about posting this chapter because it is not yet revised, but I really wanted to get it out on the site before I have to leave for yet another summer camp for a week, this Sunday. Sooo I hope you guys will be patient with me, and try to just ignore the spelling/grammar mistakes, just this once. The better, revised version will be posted as soon as I get it from my beta-reader. I am SO sorry about this, and I really hope you like the chapter. PLEASE review and tell me what you think, but please be nice. Reviews give me more inspiration to update sooner. =) _

_Thank's so much to all of you who did reveiw, you guys are the best! ^_^  
_

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Rita took a deep breath, and barely had time to close her mouth before she found herself engulfed in water, her body immediately carried away by the fast current. She clung onto something soft, yet slick. It took her a few moments to realize it was Skipper.

She blinked a few times, but only saw a blur of black and white, mixed with the putrid green color of the water. Any other time she would have shuddered at the thought of what they were swimming in, but at the moment her mind only focused on survival, and getting back to the surface.

Past experience had taught her not to panic, and so Rita began using one arm to swim to the surface, the other tightly held onto Skipper's flipper. Briefly judging from his lack of response, she could only guess he was unconscious. Finally, she reached her goal and gasped for air.

Coughing a little, her eyes widened at the sound of rushing water. She whipped her head to look behind, finding the source of the noise. She let out a gasp, this time in fear. They were headed straight for a waterfall.

"There is no way this is happening..." She muttered to herself in disbelief, struggling to keep Skipper's head above water. He had at least attempted to protect her from the sewer rat, and she knew she couldn't just let him drown.

Her eyes raced from their possible fate, to where she could see the edge of concrete where they would be able to clime to safety, if only she could find some way to make it over there.

Rita's heart sank. She knew the chances were slim, but she had to try... She couldn't give up. The instinct of survival fully kicked in just like it did so many times in the past, and she frantically fought against the current with nothing short of determination in her deep blue eyes.

Rita could see the distant concrete slowly begin to grow closer, she could almost reach out and grab it... The current, if possible, became even stronger and she could feel her strength begin to drain entirely, when suddenly she felt a paw firmly clasp her own and begin to pull her body weight, and Skipper's, towards the edge.

"Hold on!" A worried female's voice barely rose above the sound of rushing water.

Slowly and carefully, their rescuer pulled the two to safety.

Blinking a few times after Rita had caught her breath, the lemur's vision blurred to make out the concerned face of an otter.

"Are... Are you alright?" Marlene asked breathlessly, instinctively checking her over for any visible injuries.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The lemur confirmed, a little shaken up, though she quickly recovered. Suspicion reentered her eyes.

"Who are you?"

"Marlene." She answered hastily, rushing over to Skipper, she fell to her knees and placed her head to his chest, desperately listening for a heartbeat.

"Oh come on.. Please work... This worked last time..." Marlene muttered to herself under her breath. Closing her eyes, she said a silent prayer that this would bring him back. Gently, she began giving the motionless penguin compressions of CPR.

"You can't give up on me now, Skipper..."

Rita watched her curiously.

"You two know each other...?"

"Uh.... Yes. We live in the Central Park Zoo." She replied shortly, focusing her main attention on saving Skipper's life.

Rita nodded and stayed silent for a few seconds, before pushing herself off the ground and walking over to Marlene. A thoughtful expression played on her face.

"You have to keep his head up, ya know, otherwise..." She saw the sorrow flash onto the otter's face, and reworded her thought a bit.

"Eh....Let's just say, it could get bad." She kneeled down beside her.

"Go ahead and hold his head." Rita instructed. Marlene, desperate to save Skipper, would have done anything the little lemur, or anyone really, would have said just to accomplish that goal.

She gently took Skipper's fragile head into her paws, and tilted it up.

"Is that good? Too high, too low...?"

"Um, that's fine. Now just hold his head really still, and let me handle the rest." Rita gave a little smile to reassure her, and resumed Marlene's previous chest compressions.

Marlene looked down at Skipper's face... His eyes were closed in a peaceful expression, one eye was darker than the other, she noticed, a bruise no doubt beginning to form even through his thick feathers, and a deep enough cut ran across his left cheek. She flinched at the thought of how he could have gotten so badly beaten.

"What on earth...happened?" She could not help but ask, the question would nag her until she did.

Right at this moment, Skipper shot up and water came spilling from his beak, which almost flew all over Rita had she not leaped up when she did.

"Your alive!" Marlene exclaimed, rushing over to hug him, thought she stopped short, nervous of how he would react to such an act. Instead, she threw her arms in the air joyfully.

He shook himself to rid his feathers of any gross sewer water, and heard a scream.

He turned towards Rita, who had received most of the wetness, and was now ringing out her tail as if it were a drenched rag. She shot him a glare.

"I save your life, and _that's _the thanks I get!"

Marlene stifled a laugh, while Skipper tried to apologize.

"I've already had enough sewer water in my fur to last a lifetime, Skippy." Was the only response, though he could tell she was not as upset as she tried to appear.

"Marlene.. What are you doing down here, anyways?" Skipper turned to her, using a flipper to rub his throbbing head. He guessed when he and Rita leaped into the water, he must have hit it on something sharp.

"Who, me? I uh... Well, ya see it's kind of a long story. Why don't we just concentrate on getting out of here, huh?" She laughed nervously leading the way down a long dark tunnel. She dreaded telling him about her unpleasant meeting with Mina and how she had gone off on her own to find him, unsure of how he would react. She figured that information could wait until later.

Skipper and Rita began to follow, that is until Skipper's leg gave way, and he tripped and would have fallen to the ground if the tiny lemur did not rush to catch him.

"Told ya you were the one with a death wish..." She murmured, placing his flipper over her shoulder, she helped him stand upright.

Marlene looked behind and realized just how severe Skipper's injuries were. Her heart melted at the site of how venerable he was.... Though he tried to hide the pain. She reminded herself that in his mind at least, he could never appear weak.

"I'm fine....I don't need any help. See?" Skipper protested.

"Okay... prove it." She raised an eyebrow, threw her arms in the air, and stepped aside. The moment the support of Rita's shoulder was removed, the penguin's leg once again failed him, sending him crashing to the ground.

Marlene let out a gasp and rushed to his side while Rita merely walked over causally. She looked down at him in amusement, and smirked.

"Ain't that just like a typical guy? Always tryin' to act invincible."

"Let's not forget who's fault this is." He glared towards Rita. Marlene helped him stand upright, placing his flipper around her own shoulder's now for support.

"Skipper, are you alright?" The otter asked worriedly. Their eyes only met for a few brief seconds, though it was enough for Skipper to see something else in Marlene's eyes... Concern yes, that part of obvious, but he also caught something else he could not quit detect, no-matter how hard he tried and that frustrated him.

"I'm fine, Marlene." He reassured her, giving a charming smile. The one that secretly sent butterflies into Marlene's stomach every time she saw it... It hurt sometimes to pretend that he loved her, but this is the way it had to be, and however painful, she had to remind herself that he would never really feel the same.

In fact, there were sometimes she wondered if the military leader even knew what those feelings were, or if they even existed.. She had heard rumors about a former wife, something about a hula doll...? That in itself was a sign that he did not understand what love truly was, so how would he possibly love her?

Rita's smirk broke her mind out of thought.

"Your pride just won't allow you admit that_ I'm_ the one who really defeated the sewer rat." The tiny lemur taunted him playfully.

"Woah, wait... Sewer rat?" Marlene asked. Her eyes darted from Rita to Skipper in question and disbelief.

"_Giant mutated_ sewer rat, Marlene. and _I_ had the situation fully under control." Skipper defended himself.

"Pfft! Yeah, right. You didn't stand a chance without me, Skippy, and you know it." Rita laughed, flipping circles around her two companions as Marlene helped Skipper slowly waddle down the dark tunnel.

Skipper glared at her. Rita's spunky persona was beginning to remind him frighteningly too much of another obnoxious lemur he knew. He mentally cringed at the thought.

"Would you cut that out! Your starting to make me dizzy."

"Oh come on Mr. Grumpy feathers! Lighten up." Rita landed on her front paws, in a head stand position, and grinned up at him.

"You'll have to excuse Skipper... He never did really understand the meaning of word 'fun.'" Marlene said to her with a harmless laugh, remembering the horrible mishap that happened on the last _Fun Day, _back at the zoo.

"Sorry if this sounds rude but... Where did you... Come from?" She asked the lemur, quickly changing the subject before Skipper had time to get upset.

Rita went uncharacteristically silent for a few moments at the sudden question, until finally, she opened her mouth to speak but never got the chance when something crash landed on top of her.

"Hey! Get off of me you oaf!" She yelled, throwing whoever it was off of her and onto the pavement.

A ball of white and gray fluff landed on the ground a few feet away, with a loud smack.

"Ack! How dare you treat your King in such a..... Heeeey. I am not remembering you, my fellow lemur friend!"

"Ring-Tale! What the... What are _you_ doing here of all places!" Skipper demanded, his voice had taken on his usual military tone.

King Julien stood up, brushed himself off.

Rita leaped to her feet.

"King....? You....?" She gave him a skeptical look.

"I don't believe you."

Julien gasped and stumbled backwards as if her words had struck him with some acute pain.

"I don't believe it... I would be thinking that _you_ of all creatures would know a King when you see one! You see this crown thing on my head... It clearly proves that I...." He stopped for a minute, eyed her up and down. Julien blinked a few times. Finally, it seemed something clicked and his face lit up into a huge grin.

"_You....._ I am remembering you now! Ah huh! You were the one who got captur'ed by the most horrible monster of monsters....de green monster....of doom! Rita, do you not recognize your King? Has it really been that long?"

He ran to embrace her, lifting the tiny lemur off the ground, he began to spin around, overjoyed. Rita seemed too shocked to do anything other than allow this.

Skipper and Marlene exchanged looks of confusion. They watched the awkward reunion silently, waiting for one of them to explain.

They seemed to get their asher when Rita pulled away, took a few steps back.

"King...Julien?" She asked in disbelief, before her eyes narrowed into angry slits.

"First of all....how the heck did you wind up in New York?" She paused to give him a funny look.

"Second, the reason I got kidnapped by the 'green monster' in the first place, is because _somebody_ banished me for_ accidentally _touching his stupid feet!" She fumed, slowly taking a few steps towards him.

"Do not be speaking of my beautiful feet in such an unfit manner--" He paused, placing a thoughtful paw to his chin.

"Wait a second... You....your supposed to be dead... Which can only be meaning.... You must be a ghost!" Julien suddenly realized in horror.

"Your supposed to be DEAD! AHHHH! A GHOST! EVERYONE RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" He screamed in terror, bolted off into the darkness. As he ran, the sound of his odd singing echoed off the surrounding walls of the sewer. Rita guessed some of the lyrics to go along the lines of 'Go away go away... I say don't stay!' She shook her head at his strange antics.

"Okay.... Someone wanna explain what's going on here?" Skipper looked at Rita, hoping for a clearer asher.

The lemur merely rolled her eyes and growled under her breath.

"Julien get back here, you wimp! I'm not dead, you idiot! JULIEN!" Rita screamed the last word into the darking. Ignoring Skipper's question for the moment, she took off after him, and disappeared soon after into the darkness, just as Julien had.

Skipper sighed.

"Or...not." He turned to Marlene.

"I guess it's up to us.... again." He grinned.

She smiled back. Something about the way he said_ 'us.'_ sent a warm feeling coursing throughout her entire body. She mentally slapped herself.

_He doesn't love you, Marlene.... No more pretending. This is real life, not your stupid fantasies._

"I won't let you down, Captain." She saluted, faking a smile, just like she always did.

* * *

Private sat in a forgotten corner of the HQ, sniffling quietly. He shivered, the night air seemed cooler than usual for some reason. He had gone off by himself after General Mina had called off the search party hours earlier. He did not want any of the other's to see him cry, and think of him as a burden.

Did they really believe Skipper was....? No... His mind would not allow himself to think such horrible things. He shook his head to clear his mind, and hugged his knees closer to his chest. Though the gentle touch of a cold flipper startled him out of thought.

"There's no need to be afraid Private, it's just me." He slowly looked up to the concerned face of Kowalski. He breathed a sigh of relief, the fear fading from his eyes once he was sure it was not Mina.

"Oh Kowalski, it's just you, thank heavens! I don't think I could handle anymore of... G-General Mina."

The taller intellectual penguin let out a sad sigh, his eyes showed his agreement.

"Ah. I know what you mean my friend... But now that Skipper is...."

"No!" Private blurted out, standing and whipping around to face him. Kowalski wasn't sure he had ever seen such an outburst from the little penguin. He quickly clasped a flipper over Privates beak.

"Shhh! You don't want to wake Mi... I mean General Mina!" He whispered, his eyes darted from side to side to make sure they hadn't already woke her. Judging from the sounds of loud snoring, he knew she was still sound asleep.

"This is no longer a safe place to talk..." He released his beak and gestured towards the latter. The two climbed up as quietly as possible, and made it outside.

Kowalski led Private to the vary edge of the concrete platform, and plumped down on the edge, letting his feet dangle into the pool of water surrounding their enclosure.

Private sat down beside him.

"I'm sorry Kowalski, but this is ridiculous! Why would General Mina call off the search so quickly? She can't really believe...I mean you don't really Believe Skipper's...I mean he's not..." Private couldn't finish, his voice filled with raw emotion.

Kowalski looked at his friend, trying to hold back tears himself.

"You heard General Mina, Private... She doesn't believe he is coming back. And we need to move on..."

"We can't give up that easily...."

"We searched the sewer high and low...and there was no sign of him." Kowalski said solemnly.

The two sat there in grave silence... Neither able to fathom what life would be like without the guidance of their leader. Neither knowing what to say, or how to make the other feel any better. Both knowing deep down, there would be nothing to say that would ease the hurt of Skipper's absence.

Finally though. Private was the one to break the silence.

"What if he's still out there.... Marlene didn't seem to give up hope."

Kowalski saw the hope shimmering in the young penguins eyes, even now. He had always admired Private for this rare ability. He did not have the heart to tell the naive recruit that the otter was only struggling with one of the first stages of grief every person goes through when losing a loved one, and that is denial.

"No.... Marlene didn't give up hope, Private." He said quietly.

"She's still down there... In the sewer"

Kowalski suddenly turned to him, arched an eyebrow.

"Marlene isn't in the sewer...where on earth did you hear that?"

"Yes she is... I saw her jump down into that pot hole earlier this evening, to look for Skipper. 'Said she was going to look for him, even if no one else would. She still believes he's alive." He pointed to the pot whole just across from their enclosure.

"Gemini cricket! Why didn't you tell us this earlier, man? There's no telling what kind of danger she'll run into down there. We have to alert General Mina!"

Kowalski tried darting for the ladder, but Private rushed to stop him.

"Don't! She won't help her! She thinks Marlene's a spy.... Remember? If anything, she'll be glad she's gone!"

Kowalski stopped short. Placed a flipper to his chin for a moment, before coming up with a conclusion.

"Then I guess it's up to you and me Private. You think your up for this mission? It'll be a dangerous one, just to warn you."

"Oh, am I ever!" Private leaped up excitedly, flipped off the enclosure, and landed outside.

"Well come on, what are you waiting for? Skipper and Marlene need us!"

Kowalski landed beside him moments later.

He looked back at their home one last time, before turning to Private.

"Alright... Let's do this thing." He lifted the metal lid of the pot hole and he and Private jumped inside.

* * *

"Julien!" Rita continued to call into utter and complete darkness. There was no sign of light anywhere she looked, and she was just beginning to grow concerned she'd never be able to find her way out of this place, when suddenly she ran into something soft and fury.

"Ow!" A familiar voice cried out, making her jump.

"Julien?" She found what she believed to be his arm and held onto it in a death grip so that if it were Julien, she would not grant him the option of another hasty escape.

"Owy! Please....not to be squeezing my arm oh so tightly! My royal fur is tender!"

Simply by that one sentence alone, Rita no longer had to second guess who the voice belonged too, and if she were clasping the wrong arm. She held on tighter.

"Ah huh! I knew it was you!"

"Oh no... Nooooo! But I sang the song... NO! The ghost cannot be finding me here!!! Go away go away! I say don't staaaaaay!" His voice had turned to horror, and he began to sing in a loud obnoxious tone that made Rita only long to slap him, and so she did just that.

"Would you cut that out! Would you really be able to _feel_ that if I were a ghost? Ghost's can't reach out and slap people, because their _ghosts _and if there were actually such a thing, and you tried to touch one, your hand would move right through them!" She hissed, frustrated that he still insisted on believing she was dead.

"Eh...maybe you are a special kind of ghost who can!" He reasoned in his own warped mind.

"Or maybe, I escaped the_ 'green monster' _and survived.... Now there's a thought.... Did you ever think of that?" She balled her paw into a fist and knocked on his head a few times, though it was not enough to cause any actual pain.

"Ah!" He smacked her paw away.

"The royal head is not a place to be kockety knocking on whenever you are pleasing!"

She rolled her eyes, unseen by Julien due to the blackness surrounding them.

"Can't we just...." Her words hung in the air, unfinished, as Rita froze at the sound of an eerie growl.

"Can't we just what?" Julien asked impatiently.

"Well go on, spit it--"

She had found his mouth, and clamped a paw over it.

"Shut up, you idiot!" She whispered angrily into his ear.

"Do you wanna get us killed? Well maybe you can get _yoursel__f_ killed some other time, but not when I'm here. So as for now, you better zip it because I won't hesitate to throw you at whatever is hiding in the darkness and run away." Rita pressed herself against the wall behind them, and slowly backed up with Julien still in her firm grip. She finally released his mouth. Bad idea.

"Hahahaha! Is de fearless Rita actually... scared'ed?" He asked in a loud voice , before she took his snout in her paws once again, this time in a death grip.

"At least I'm braver than _you, _which really isn't saying much_._" She bit back.

"Now can it!"

* * *

_Please tell me what you think! _


	5. Chapter 5: A Giant Problem

_Hey, guys! Thank you SO much to my reviewers! You_ _guys are amazing! Sorry for the long wait... __This summer has been really hectic for me, but I finally managed to finish the chapter! Please tell me what you think. :)_

* * *

"So you really... fought a giant sewer rat?" Marlene asked in astonishment after Skipper finished his retelling of the tale of his and Rita's earlier battle with the rat King. She had never heard the full story, due to Rita's constant cutting in, and then there was the issue of King Julien randomly deciding to show up, and then running off like the wimp he is, with an angry Rita chasing after him.

The actual relation of the two bizarre lemurs remained a mystery. Which could only leave Skipper and Marlene to wonder if they had run into any trouble themselves, which comes to the reason why they were looking for the spastic duo in the first place, hoping they hadn't gotten themselves in too much trouble. Though Skipper had developed a terrible feeling that was only wishful thinking.

He looked at the ground, feeling guilty for having taken all of the credit for the victory of the fight, when he knew he was only trying to impress her. It was Rita who had actually done most of the work, and she who really defeated the Rat King. Heck, she saved his life.... However annoying he found her to be at times, if it weren't for the tiny lemur he would not be alive, and he knew that.

"Skipper...? What's wrong?" The sound of Marlene's velvety soft voice snapped him back to reality. He looked up to meet the gaze of her worried eyes staring back into his own.

His pride would never allow him to reveal to her the truth.

"Uh... Yeah, told ya I could handle anything!" He said quickly with a little too much enthusiasm. He flashed her a grin, though she noticed it lacked something. His usual confidence was missing.

Marlene arched an eyebrow.

"You... Sure you're okay?"

"Who, me? Marlene... Your talking to the same guy who's taken down a full grown sea lion with a broken leg!" Skipper laughed as if she had uttered the most ridiculous words he had ever heard. Deep inside he was hoping she didn't see right through him.

"Alright, alight! I get it. You're invincible." Marlene rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. He never noticed the sadness that etched somewhere deep in her tone.

"You bet I am."

Right as he said this, the sound of shrill screaming echoed off the walls and into their ears.

"What the....?" Skipper began. Marlene let out a gasp when she caught site of two figures coming their way at such a speed, she knew they'd never be able to outrun them, even if these were vicious killers. She bit her lip and instinctively held onto Skipper tightly, who, to her surprise, returned the gesture by gently squeezing her shoulders.

"Get behind me." He ordered. Despite his current physical state, he moved to step in front of her.

"What are you doing? Skipper, your hurt!" Marlene's eyes widened to saucers. Was he insane?

_I have to stop him! _

She ran in front of him, placing her paws on his shoulders to prevent him from walking any farther.

He looked taken aback. Marlene gave him a pleading look, terrified he'd get himself killed.

"Marlene, please, I've been hurt worse than this many times in the army and that hasn't effected my performance yet... Don't worry about me, I'll be fine!" He tried to reassure her, inwardly trying to convince himself of the same. Though it did little for either of them.

Marlene was not the least convinced. Nevertheless, it pained her to know that deep down she was fighting for a hopeless cause. Skipper was stubborn, and if he set his mind to something, he'd find a way to make it happen. It proved to be a frustrating trait, yet also one she found she could endure.

She opened her mouth to speak, but never got the chance to do so, as the two figures came fully into view. A flash of white, gray, and black whizzed passed them. It was hard make out exactly who or what either of the figures were in the dimly lit atmosphere, with only the light shining through the cracks in the ceiling above leading to the outside world.

Finally though, Skipper recognized the obnoxious screaming to be Julien's, and relaxed for the moment. He limped backwards. Marlene steadied his balance by placing her paws, once again, on his shoulders. The two lemur's skidded to a halt just inches away from them, and scampered over each other to hide behind Skipper and Marlene.

Rita quickly leaped onto Skipper's back. He let out a grunt of pain, grabbed her from behind him, and swung her around so that she was now in his flippers. Rita clung to him and buried her face into his feathers in a fear he did not know she even possessed, leaving Skipper to only stare down at her in odd bewilderment. Julien leaped in Marlene's arms in a fit of sheer panic. The otter stumbled a little, now fearing whatever could have scared the two so badly. She resisted the urge to drop him.

"What's the meaning of this, lemur? I thought you _liked_ danger." Skipper asked, more than a little annoyed, now that the pain was starting to get to him. Staring down at Rita, he was beginning to wonder if this was the same overly confidant lemur who had back sassed the Sewer King, even as he threatened, in return, to steal away her life.

"Okay, okay, _**that **_was different! I don't do huge, scary creature things that could swallow me whole!" She replied in a shaky voice he had never heard her use before. It was strange to say the least, seeing Rita actually...scared.

"Oh, and the rat mutant was just a tiny mouse, eh?" Skipper's tone dripped in sarcasm, still amazed at how drastic of change that had happened in the lemur in such a short amount of time.

Rita growled in frustration.

"Well he was nothin' compared to THAT THING!" She screamed the last part, frantically pointing to something hidden in the dark.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!! SAVE ME! I am being too hansomly amazing to die!" Julien screamed, buried his face into the otter's shoulder. Marlene could not help but notice his whole body was shaking against her own in fear.

"What on earth are you so afraid of?" She asked, trying to keep her voice steady, and confidant.

"The...the....the MONSTER!"

Marlene rolled her eyes.

"Well that helps a lot."

Rita looked up to glare at Julien.

"It wasn't... a _real_ monster!"

"Was too...it was hideously ugly!" He shuddered at the recent memory.

"Oh, it wasn't _that _bad!" She scowled at his exaggeration.

"Was too!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

"What are you two crazy lemurs rambling on about _now?!_ I don't see anything!" Skipper, exasperated, yelled, bringing an end to their argument. He crossed his flippers, and applied pressure to his hurt foot, bearing the excess pain to help him stand without the support of Marlene, and so he wouldn't fall with the added weight of Rita.

Suddenly a deep growl erupted from the depths of the sewer, sending a cold shiver down everyones spine. Julien screamed, Rita gasped, and Skipper took a protective stance in front of Marlene, who edged closer to him in fear.

"Oh, I can't look..." The tiniest lemur cringed and covered her face with her paws. Skipper could feel her body trembling against his own.

"NO! I am too young to be deaded!" Julien cried, clinging to Marlene in utter terror. She simply looked down at him with a _'Wow you really are a wimp' _sort of look on her face.

"Please save me! Save your beloved King! DO IT AT ONCE, MARLENE! PLEEEASE!" He begged pathetically, re-burying his face.

"Ya know.... this is all your fault Julien." Rita muttered bitterly.

Julien unburied his face, forgetting the danger they were in for the moment. Scoffed at her, what he called, absurd accusation.

"What is this, blame King Julien day? Well I am not liking this holiday in the smallest bit!" He crossed his arms and turned away in his usual pouting position.

"Oh if only that was a national Holiday." Skipper murmured angrily.

Marlene sighed. Tired of all the constant arguing, she decided she would be the bigger otter and refuse to add to the chaos.

"You guys! Okay, fighting is not going to save us from whatever is hiding in the shadows, wanting to eat us!"

This time it was Skipper's turn to sigh. However much he hated admitting it, she was right.

"Marlene's right... Like each other or not, we're going to have to work together if we wanna make it out of here......alive."

The sound of huge approaching footsteps made the ground beneath them tremble. Everyone gulped. Skipper and Marlene took a few nervous steps backwards.

"Any last words?" Rita asked, her voice fell monotone.

Marlene looked at Skipper and bit her lip. She could already feel hot tears sting her eyes. Everything she had longed to tell him for oh so long, all the secrets she was hiding, suddenly came bubbling to the surface of her mind. If only she had the guts to open up her mouth and say what her heart longed to spill out. If this really was the end, it wouldn't matter if he rejected her or not. It would only hurt for a few seconds.

This was it.... She was finally going to do it.

_No more hiding Marlene..._

"Marlene! I have a confession to make..."

She could not believe the words she heard. Did they really belong to who she thought... Or was that just her own wishful thinking again? She looked over at Skipper, and for the first time, she stared into his blue eyes and realized that the mask he always wore...

The strong, fearless, heroic, courageous, facade was gone....vanished out of site. Suddenly, he was no longer invincible... In fact, he looked close to tears. The mere fact that she had never seen the leader like this, nor did she ever think she would, almost scared Marlene.

Rita and Julien's ears even perked up at the penguin's sudden outburst. Curiously, they turned their attention to Skipper, eagerly awaiting what would happen next.

He gulped under the sudden pressure of their gaze, though his eyes bore past the two lemur's, and locked with Marlene's.

"Marlene... I..."

Before he could finish, everyone's mouth dropped at the huge shadow of the giant monster that loomed over them.

The creature finally stepped into the light, revealing none other than a giant Maurice.

Skipper's instinctive defenses instantly dropped, as well as everyone's jaw.

"Maurice?" Marlene asked, her voice portraying the same shock Skipper felt.

"That.... _That_ is what you're so afraid of?" Skipper scowled. He gave Rita a look of utter disbelief, shook his head, and let out a laugh.

"Why are you laughing? He's terrifying!" She defended herself angrily.

"And hideously bigly!" Julien added, shaking in fear.

Marlene simply stared at him blankly. She found the whole thing ridiculous, and suddenly felt incredibly stupid for even thinking of revealing her true feelings to Skipper. She let out a nervous laugh, sure whatever confession he had to make had nothing to do with that sort of thing.

The otter dropped Julien in her inner frustration and crossed her arms.

"No one so carelessly just drops a king like that!" He whined, leaping up off the floor to glare at her.

"Well sorry Julien, but I do."

Marlene snapped angrily, before returning her attention to the larger than life Maurice.

"Maurice, What's the deal?! And how on earth did you get so... so.... _huge!_"

The lemur leaned down a bit, flashed her a creepy grin. One that Marlene had never seen before. She took a few steps back, beginning to feel uneasy around the usually easy-going lemur who she often thought served as more of a slave to King Julien, rather than an advisor. Never in her life did she think she would actually be afraid of _Maurice. _

"Like the new look? I do." His voice, now that they heard it, sounded nothing like the short, stubby advisor they all knew and tolerated. Skipper noticed for the first time that his eyes were no longer yellow, but an eerie red.

"Hey....wait a second... You haven't been eating anymore of Julien's treats by any chance...have you?" He asked, inwardly shuddering at the memory of what happened last time the lemur's had eaten bad lychee nuts.

Julien's mouth, if possible, would have hit the floor.

"Oh no you _didn't!_ You better not have eaten my amazingly awesome lychee nuts! Those are to being only for the King, and _you,_ Maurice, are certainly no King!" He yelled furiously.

"Bedside's, they go right to your already overly large booty."

Maurice's eyes suddenly grew dark and cold. He took a few steps forward.

Marlene shot Julien a death glare, wishing she could tape his mouth shut.

"Hey, Skippy, sorry for almost gettin' ya killed back there... I-I didn't mean it! Just don't let him kill me!" Rita said in a panicky tone, one that seemed almost foreign.

Skipper could already feel his flipper begin to grow numb within her grip.

"Good gravy, pull yourself together lemur! No one is going to die." He rolled his eyes.

"It's just Maurice! He's harmless." He stood there while everyone else, save him and Rita, took a few steps back.

"I wouldn't be so sure, '_Skippy._'" Maurice mocked. He grabbed Rita by the tail and lifted her out of Skipper's flippers, kicking and screaming. Instinctively, he had tried to hold onto her, but his injuries prevented such an action.

The tiny lemur flailed in Maurice's vice grip to no avail as he dangled her in mid air.

"Let me go, you big oaf!" Despite the hopeless cause, she knew she couldn't give up. She continued her desperate struggle to escape.

"My oh my how the tables have turned!" Maurice leaned his head back and laughed evilly.

"I've had it with you Julien, no more 'get me this' 'get me that' 'make me a smoothie Maurice!' 'Your booty's not dancing right!' well not anymore!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Do I _look_ like Julien? No! So put me down!" Rita demanded, though fear was evident in her tone.

"Not so fast, Rita.... I remember you... Still only just a young kid, but I can still see a little growth."

Marlene's eyes widened.

"Wait a second... You know her too? How?" She asked, more than a little confused.

Skipper looked up in surprise, awaited his reply.

Maurice paused, seemed to think for a moment.

"Uh, it's a long story... Maybe another time I'll tell you when your bringing me a banana!"

Skipper placed his flippers on his hips.

"Since when is she your little slave?"

Marlene glanced at him, tried to hide a blush.

"Well, no, technically not yet... But she will be! Soon you ALL will be!" He let out another fit of evil laughter.

Julien found this absolutely appalling.

"_Me?_ A King.... a sl-sl-sl-slave....? He stammered, looking almost as if he would faint.

"Your not King anymore Julien, ya see, I was tired of tending to your every becking whim and need, so I found the penguins growth thingamajig... And eureka! I'm huge, and powerful!"

Maurice grinned.

"How many times has this happened now?" Marlene angrily whispered to Skipper, remembering the machine and all the trouble it had caused.

"4, if you include that time Kowalski used it on Doris. Now _that_ was a site. After that I told him to get rid of it... Problem is, the man just can't part with his inventions!" He replied, balling his flippers into fists.

"Maybe he should go to counseling!" Rita yelled from above them.

Marlene growled in frustration.

"Ugh, this is ridiculous! Maurice, you can't just _take_ us as slaves. That's....that is un-American!" She protested, praying against all odds that he'd come to his senses.

"Well then it's a good thing I'm from Madagascar, baby!" Maurice laughed. He reached for her with his free hand, though she never felt the chills of his grasp.

It was only when she gathered the strength to open her eyes did Marlene realize that Skipper had run in front, creating spare between her and the giant hand. She could tell, in his current state, that he did not stand a chance against the giant Maurice, and that left Marlene terrified.

"Not so fast, _Maurice. _If that is your real name." Skipper said, confidant that it was the other way around.

Rita was genuinely beginning to wonder if this was the same Maurice she had known not so long ago. As one may think. By the gaping looks Julien was giving him, it was safe to say he felt the same.

"Yeah, Maurice! What the heck has gotten into you?"

"You-You....ate....my royal lychee nuts!" Julien twitched, looking as if he'd explode into one of his 'freak outs' at any given moment.

This gave Rita an idea. A devious grin spread across her face.

"Yeah, King Julien! I mean... _You're_ the King, right? I mean... Shouldn't those only be reserved for _you?_ Watcha' gonna do about that?" She asked, praying her plan would work.

"Yeah Julien... What _are_ you going to do?" Maurice asked in an evil tone. It must have been enough to make Julien's blood run cold, because instead of freaking out, he simply let out a small squeak.

"I...I'm going to...well I...." His voice fell away as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his body plummeted to the ground.

Rita rolled her eyes.

_"__Julien!" S_he growled out his name in frustration.

"Now is not the time to suddenly become a chicken and faint!"

"I thought he was always a chicken." Skipper muttered, his eyes briefly wandered to the unconscious Julien laying on the ground a few feet away, before returning his gaze to Maurice.

"Not when it came to his precious lychee nuts... Which are now _mine!_"

The giant danced around to celebrate his victory, causing the ground beneath them to shake. Marlene instinctively grabbed onto Skipper. To her surprise, she felt him rap his flippers around her and hold her tight. Though she told herself it was purely out of fear, and the need to balance.

"And so are you..." Maurice tossed Rita to his other paw, much to her screaming protests, and once again reached out to grab them.

"Not on my watch!" Skipper exclaimed. He released Marlene, and looked into her eyes.

"Now I'm not exactly the best at sappy speeches... But no-matter what happens, I want you to stay back. No more trying to act like the hero. Got it?" His voice was strict, but his eyes pleaded for her to do as he said.

Inside, Marlene's heart was breaking, though she tried her best to appear strong. Like she didn't want to reach out to him and never allow him to leave her again. Like she didn't care. Though she had a feeling, like his own, her eyes said all.

She allowed anger to enter her eyes to cover up the pain.

"How can you expect me to just sit here and--"

"Marlene, please!"

She paused... He looked desperate now.

"Fine." She muttered reluctantly, and gasped when he lunged for Maurice.


	6. Chapter 6: A deadly mistake

_You reviewers rock! I'm so happy your enjoying the story so much. =) Okay, so here's the deal... my beta-reader is out of town for awhile, and when he does get back in town, a friend is coming over for the week so I won't have much time to write chapters for that week, so I just decided, to keep you guys from waiting, to post the next chapter unrevised. So again, please try to ignore any spelling/grammar mistakes, although I did try my best! The better, revised chapter will be here as soon as possible. =)_

_Please continue to tell me what you think of the story!_

* * *

"Can we please stop to rest, Private? We've been walking for hours... It'll be morning soon!" Kowalski said tiredly, feeling as if his legs wanted to murder him.

The younger penguin turned to him with a look of disappointment.

"Exactly! Mina will be waking up soon... Kowalski if we don't find them soon, she'll come after _us_ and have our heads!" He exclaimed in a panicky tone.

Private paused when the older penguin stopped and gave him a look.

"Um... So sorry for rising my voice, but we can't give up now! Marlene is out there somewhere...and I believe Skipper is too."

Kowalski sighed. He had mainly come along, just to humor his friend's denial that their leader was really gone...now the time had come to tell Private what he had been dreading all this time.

He opened his mouth to speak, but at the same time, so did Private.

"Kowalski....why do you think Marlene came down here to look for Skipper on her own? Didn't she know it was dangerous?" He asked innocently.

Kowalski looked hesitant for a moment, hoping this would not turn into a conversation about 'the birds and the bees'. He had suspected that Marlene had a crush on Skipper long ago, since their first meeting.

"Eh...well...she...wasn't thinking clearly. Grief has a funny way of clouding the mind, and making a person do things they normally wouldn't." He explained, hoping he wouldn't press the subject.

Private seemed to except this, for now at least, because he nodded and they continued to walk in silence.

* * *

When Skipper had attacked Maurice, Rita took saw this as the perfect opportunity to wriggle her way out of his grip.

After Skipper had yelled for her to '_Hurry up and escape already'_ Rita accomplished this goal with some difficulty, and leaped to the ground, landing beside an unconscious Julien while Skipper continued his battle with Maurice.

"Julien, get up!" The smaller lemur glared at his motionless form on the ground. Her voice portrayed anger, but her heart pounded in fear...fear that he wouldn't wake up. Rita growled, stepped forward, and gave him a kick in the leg.

He instantly jolted awake with a startled scream, much to Rita's inner relief.

"NO YOU CANNOT BE HAVING MY BANANAS, MORT!" He screamed.

She gave Julien a blank stare. The sudden noise had even attracted Marlene's attention, who, up until this point had been left only to watch the scene between Skipper and Maurice in utter horror.

"What? Where am I... Who ... Who are you people?!" Julien asked, his eyes wide with terror.

Rita rolled her eyes. She jumped onto Julien's stomach, and slapped him across the face.

"Get a hold of yourself, dude! It's only us."

"Rita? Maurice...?" The lemur drawled groggily. His vision spun as it tried to regain focus.

It was Marlene's turn to slap him now.

"Oh! Heh, heh, heh.... Oh Marlene...It's only you." His eyes widened, and he leaped to his feet instantly upon the sudden realization.

"Stay _away_ from me! A king is not to pose as something as lowly as a bunching bag..."

He jumped away from Marlene in fear.

"And you!" The lemur King whirled around to point at Rita, who merely put her paws on her hips.

"Obviously, your ghostly ghostness is too strong for my amazing ghost go away, mechanisms!"

"Excuse me? Let's not forget _you_ are the one who started this whole thing!"

Marlene said in a furious tone. One that almost made Julien shudder. She was already on the verge of a mental breakdown, and all he could do was try to start an argument.

"And for the last time, I AM NOT A GHOST!" Rita screamed, on the verge of tackling him.

"Eh, I don't believe you..." Julien said simply. He turned away from the fuming lemur before she had the chance to protest, and came face to face with Marlene.

"And _you_ are only upset because I made fun of your little....boyly friend thingy!"

"He is not my--" She started to say, before he cut her off. Little did Julien know, the reason she was so defensive, was only because of how much it hurt for the fact to be fiction.

"Speaking of Skipper, isn't he the one who is getting his booty beating from the super sized booty of Maurice?"

Julien placed his paws on her shoulders, and whirled her around to face the unfolding scene of Skipper face planting into the side of a brick wall. Not too far away, stood Maurice. He looked as if he was loving every second of this newfound glory, and the fact that, in his mind at least, he could now beat Skipper, or any of them really, to a bloody pulp if given the chance.

Marlene gasped, covering her mouth with her paws.

"Skipper!" She cried out to him. He glanced over at her from his place on the ground, though her voice only seemed to pump motivation into his heart. Skipper grinned towards her, though it was lopsided and she could tell he was badly hurt. Still, he got to his feet, and prepared another attack.

"Is that all you got? Your gonna have to do better than that to take a marine down!" He ran towards the giant and leaped onto his back. This had taken Maurice by surprise, but he quickly bounced back and the two were at it again. Skipper fought the best he could despite his growing injuries, and Maurice proved to be a batter fighter than any of them thought him even capable.

"Hehehehe.... Told you he was your boyfriend!" Julien taunted Marlene, though her eyes never left Skipper. Julien, of course, noticed this and a huge gleeful smile spread across his face.

"If he is lucky, he will not be crushed by Maurice's monster feet."

"We can't just stand here and do nothing, someone has to do something!" Marlene yelled, unable to stand the helpless feeling aching in her heart any longer. The thought of Skipper's pain made her visibly cringe. She inwardly wished she could take it from him, but knew that was impossible.

Suddenly a huge smile developed across Julien's face, one that made the two look at him and dread whatever catastrophe would come out of his mouth.

"I know! Rita, distract him by getting crushed so we can all run away!" Before she could protest, Marlene watched him grab the tiny lemur by the arm and toss her in front of Maurice, who was about to stomp Skipper's face into the ground. Maurice paused when Rita hit the ground and cursed Julien.

"Well what do we have here? Rita finally decides to be a hero?"

She met his gaze with fiery daggers.

"I'm more of a hero than you'll _ever_ be. Besides, _Julien's _the one you want!" She yelled up to him. Her eyes burned with a mixture of the fire of revenge, and the hidden hurt that Julien would actually throw her to her doom.

"Yeah, take Julien!" Marlene, already furious with him, grabbed the Ring-tailed lemur before he had the chance to run away, and threw him in front of Rita. She quickly grabbed his shoulders and held him there.

"This is what you get for using me!" Rita angrily whispered into his ear.

"S-Silly Rita, you are a _ghost! _Your already deaded! Oh, ho-how easily you are to forget." His voice trembled, though he was in too much of a shock to do anything other than stand there.

"Julien, how many times do I have to tell you, I'm _**not**_a ghost!"

Unknown to the Julien and Rita's current knowledge, Maurice had paused to watch the two. He curiously listened in to their conversation.

"Hey Rita...being a ghost and all, do you ever get the feeling people are listening in on your conversations?" The lemur King suddenly asked, his face uncomfortably growing closer and closer to her own.

Rita stumbled backwards.

"What does that have to do with...." Her voice trailed off, finally feeling Maurice's intense gaze. She glanced up at him and gulped nervously.

"Oh, please don't stop now! You guys shoulder really become comedians..." The giant taunted with an evil chuckle.

"On the count of three...we fun for it." Rita whispered to Julien.

"But why do you get to count? I am King around here...." He rambled on.

"1...2.... 3!"

Rita bolted off in between Maurice's legs, almost causing him to trip and fall.

"How dare you run off and leave your King like that!" Julien yelled after her, shocked that she would do such a thing, despite the fact that she had instructed him when to run.

Rita glanced behind, noticed he wasn't following, and let out a growl.

"Oh, Julien!" She ran back, grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the way, just seconds before Maurice had the chance to make him into a lemur pancake.

"I see you haven't changed a bit." Rita murmured to Julien as they took a sharp turn down another passageway of the sewer. She was sure Julien would have came up with some sort of cocky remark, had he not been huffing too hard to speak.

"Come back here! When I get my hands on you, I may just cook you up and eat you!" Maurice ran after them, though Julien and Rita proved harder to catch than he had thought. It seemed that both lemur's were good at one thing....

Running away.

Rita partially wondered if Maurice had not finally cracked, and was serious about eating them, though she didn't plan to stick around to find out. She increased the pace, keeping a good grip on Julien's hand. She wanted to make sure didn't get distracted and in turn, get himself killed.

"Hey, why don't you try staying still for a minute so I can crush you!" Maurice yelled after them in hot pursuit.

With his attention now focused the two fleeing lemur's, Marlene ceased the moment, and ran to Skipper's side. She slowed down when she came close enough to catch a glimpse of what Maurice had done to him, and gasped at horrid site before her...

Skipper's body lay slumped against the opposite wall, barely conscience. Marlene carefully made her way over, and knelt down beside him. She took his flipper into her paw, gently held it against her chest. She struggled to keep the tears from falling.

Blood spilled from his beak, and down his chest. Marlene could not be sure the extent of how deep his wounds were quickly becoming, but she knew she would not be able to bear the pain of losing him. She would do whatever it took to keep him alive.

Skipper finally found the strength to glance up at her, his vision blurred. It was growing dark fast, though he tried his best to remain conscience, if only to stay with her for a few more minutes. Marlene's voice sounded distant, almost like in a dream. The soft grip of her paw through his thick feathers was the only thing reminding him that the angel kneeling beside him, was real.

"Ma-Marlene...I-I'm sorry....I couldn't protect you...I wasn't strong enough...." He managed, his voice was weaker than she had ever heard it before. Her eyes fell on his chest... His slow, still breathing becoming more of a struggle with each passing moment.

"Skipper, please hold on..." Marlene begged, no longer able to suppress the broken water that now trickled down the sides of her face.

"I-I'm so sorry... Mar...." Skipper's voice slowly fell away, try as he may to hold on for her, to tell her the truth that she so long deserved to know. Marlene sorrowfully watched his eyes roll into the back of his head. It was only when she felt his flipper go limp within her grasp, did the otter realize that this was reality. Still, her mind fought to refuse the information trying to register.

"You can't leave me, you don't understand...I don't want you to protect me....I-I just want you to be with me! Skipper...you _are s_trong! No...._no! Skipper!_" She almost screamed the last few words, her voice filled with such a sorrow she did not know she was capable of feeling.

Unwilling to leave his side, Marlene lay down beside him, and curled herself into his warm feathers. Slowly, she ran her paw over his chest... The feathers, once stainless white, were now covered in crimson.

"This is all my fault..." She whispered miserably. Somehow, she felt the blame should fall on her...if he hadn't felt the need to protect her, than this would have never happened. If only she could have been braver... stronger... If only she could have stood up to him and refused to let him go out there alone.

Marlene let out a broken whimper, and buried her face within his chest. And then came the sobs... The harsh... reckless... Unstoppable cry that she had been holding back up until this point, that had finally found a way of release, a way to express the immerse grief that now pored freely from her bleeding heart.

The occasional feel of his chest rising and falling was the only thing to remind her that he was still alive. She held onto that hope with all she had, the one that promised her he would return to the waking world once again.

"Skipper...I know...that I don't show it...but...I-I need you."

****************************

Unnoticed to most, before Rita and Julien had darted down the tunnel in their escape, the young lemur had taken the time to glance behind just to catch a short glimpse of Marlene rushing over to Skipper's side. Her eyes quickly ventured past them and over to a hooded figure, hidden in the dark.

Rita felt as though someone was squeezing her heart as hard as they could. She bit her lip, shaking her head to remind her of the reason she was there in the first place, brushed away a few unwanted tears with a free paw, and tightened her grip on Julien's hand.

_Get a hold of yourself Rita! Stay focused...._ She mentally scolded herself, though it did little for her guilty conscience.

Moment's later, she and Julien disappointed behind the corner with Maurice hot on their tail.

*******************************

"Sorry to bring this up again, but....why would Marlene put herself in danger like that?" Private asked after several minutes of walking in silence.

Kowalski turned him him, inwardly slapped a flipper to his face.

"Haven't I already explained this?" He arched an eyebrow.

"Well....yes...but.... She must really like him, to put herself in danger."

"Yes...well....they were, err, _are..._friends." He said, choosing his words carefully.

"But I don't know if I would be brave enough to go into the sewer all alone... I would want too, but I just don't know." Private said sadly.

Kowalski gave him a sympathetic look.

"Marlene has proved herself to be one vary brave otter."

"Yes...she has...I guess this isn't the first time she's been down in the sewer." Private pointed out.

"No, it hasn't." He confirmed.

"Maybe she's already found him, and we've had come down here for nothing..."

Kowalski turned to look at him.

"It's...possible..." It was true, but on an extremely low scale.

"Maybe Skipper's already halfway around the world on his honeymoon, yeah Kowalski ?" Private laughed, in hopes of lightening the mood. However, Kowalski failed to see the joke.

The taller penguin stopped short, taken aback at the words that had came out of the young penguins beak.

"Private, what on earth gave you such an assumption?" He asked, doubting his companion even knew the meaning of the word _'honeymoon.'_

Private laughed.

"Relax, I was only joking. I do think Marlene and Skipper would make a cute couple, though."

Of course, he could be wrong. Maybe Private was a little less naive to the world of romance than Kowalski had originally thought.

At this, he turned and gave Private a light slap across the face to zap him back to reality.

"You've been watching those cheesy soap operas again, haven't you?"

Private looked at the ground shamefully.

"It's just... Susan and Mark's relationship relates to them so well... They're both terrified of admitting the the truth to each other, when they are really madly in love, and I feel so bad for poor Mar....I mean Susan!"

Kowalski gave him a blank stare.

"We have _got_ to get you into watching more horror films."

"I-I don't think Skipper would like that...." Private shuffled his feet nervously.

Kowalski arched an eyebrow.

"And...why not? Skipper was never afraid of scary movies."

A blush slowly made it's way across Privates face.

Kowalski took a few steps back.

"Okay....this is getting awkward. You, my friend, have a lot of explaining to do."

He crossed his flipper's and waited for his friends reply.

_This better be good..._

"Oh...I....okay! Skipper didn't want me to tell anyone but.....you remember....monster movie night?"

Private asked, nervously pacing back and forth.

"Yes...."

"Well, I was so afraid I couldn't sleep...and...well...I...."

"Spit it out man!"

"Okay, okay! I sort of...kind of....sleptwithSkipperthatnight."

If possible, Kowalski's eyes would have enlarged over 10 times.

He opened his beak to speak, but the words refused to come out right away.

_How... the... How do I even respond to that?!_

Luckily, Private spoke before he had too.

"It's not what you think! Skipper knew I was there....."

Kowalski could not, nor did he _want _to believe his ears.

"Okay, Private I think I've heard _more_ than enough..."

"I didn't break any of the rules! Skipper allowed me to stay with him for one night, because well...the incinerator looked more like a monster in the dark...everything did really and...and I was keeping him up, so he...let me stay with him for a night. Just like my mother used to do!"

Private frantically tried to explain.

"Ya know...I've never told him this before...and I hope I get the chance one day...but I...I've always sort of thought of Skipper as my father." His gaze once again fell to the ground, and he turned away to hide the heated tears that had found their way into his eyes.

Kowalski let out an audible sigh of relief.

"Oh, thank the good heavens!" He exclaimed, earning a puzzled look from Private, who had turned to stare at him in innocent confusion.

"What?" He asked, cocked his head to the side. This time it was Kowalski's turn to offer up an explanation.

"I...umm...hey look lemurs!" He faked a gasp and frantically pointed to something he had thought imaginary, hoping it would be enough for Private to buy it.

Little did he know his plan had worked in more ways than one.

Private whipped around and let out a gasp of his own, only his was out of real shock.

"Oh my! What on earth are lemurs doing in the sewer?"

Kowalski blinked.

"What? Private, I lied...there are no...."

His voiced trailed off when his eyes caught site of two frightened figures appear from out of the darkness. His brain kicked in and he realized Private was right.

"Good grief, _what are lemurs doing in the sewer?!_" Kowalski yelled, leaping up and down in shock.

He could recognize one of the lemurs to be King Julien, though he could not place his tiny companion, at first. All he could make out was that it was black in color, and ran hand in hand with Julien. Both of the lemurs eyes were wide with terror.

Both looked as if they were running to save their vary lives. Kowalski had never seen Julien more scared in his life, and he was soon to find out the reason. He could finally make out the other lemur to be Rita... Though he noted she seemed more nervous than terrified.

The ground trembled beneath their feet as whatever was chasing them stepped out of the shadows and into the light.

"Please to be saving us from the giant monstrosity, penguins!" Julien screamed. He and Rita tried skidding to a stop, but ended up face planting right into Private and Kowalski. The four tumbled to the ground much like bowling pins.

Rita was the first to leap up, her heart racing.

"Look out!" She shouted. She and the other's all dodged out of the way in random directions to avoid the giant hand of what Private and Kowalski' now realized, much to their horror, was Maurice.

"Good gobstoppers! What on earth happened to Maurice?!" Kowalski yelled, avoiding a blow from the gigantic lemur.

"He used your growth machine thingy, and now he's a giant problem!" Rita explained, zipping in and out of Maurice's legs.

Kowalski let out a gasp.

"How did you know about that?"

"He only broad casted it to the world! Apparently you also used it on someone called Doris?" She ran over to him when she received a break, and arched an eyebrow.

It seemed Maurice was now chasing Julien around in circles.

"Stop movin' you nasty little thing!" Maurice complained.

"Oh, and you are expecting me to just stop and stand here so I can be your personal booty cushion?" As he said it, Julien did just that.

Kowalski looked nervous.

"I...uh.... She wanted to see my knew invention! I wanted to impress her by showing off....so I kinda...sorta...used it on her, actually making _her_ huge...."

While he paced back and forth re-telling the bizarre tale, he failed to notice that Rita had zipped over to Maurice, and had already saved Julien from several of his psychotic advisors attempted attacks. The lemur King, of course, was not smart enough to save even himself.

"Yeah, well, how did ya fix that one? Because it would _really_ come in handy right about now!" Rita exclaimed, though her voiced dripped in sarcasm. She made a motion with her paw and a small black bag appeared within her paw. She reached into it, grabbed what looked like a needle attached to a bottle filled with some sort of liquid, and quickly stabbed Maurice's leg.

The penguins could not believe what they were now witnessing. They each ran for cover (including Julien and Rita) when the giant let out a loud cry of pain and plummeted to the ground. Private thought it was a lot like watching Godzilla.

All eyes shifted from the lemur, who was rapidly growing smaller, to Rita. They stared at her in amazement, and question.

"Ah-huh, I knew it! I just knew she was a ghost! And with ghostly powers.... What have I been telling you all along, you silly penguins?" Julien broke the uneasy silence that had fallen by joyfully dancing around them. Maurice lay on the ground, fully normal sized, and unconscious.

"Are-Are you really a ghost...R-Rita?" Private finally asked, his voice shook with nervousness.

Rita's head was down in what could have been shame...or perhaps, sorrow? No one was quit certain until she slowly looked up, her eyes filled with unreadable liquid.

"This was a mistake." She whispered, turning away from them.

"What was a mistake, Rita?" Kowalski asked carefully, trying his hardest to place the pieces of this mysterious puzzle together in his head. Though try as he might, he could up with nothing.

Who, exactly, was this mysterious lemur?

His voice snapped her back to reality, reminding her that she was not alone. Rita shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"What? Oh, Nothing. Do me a favor, okay? Just get everyone out of here... As quickly as possible."

The tone of her voice left no room for question, though they did anyways.

"But Rita, we haven't found Skipper yet, or poor Marlene!" Private started to protest.

"They're fine..."

"How do you--"

"Because I've seen them. Ask King Julien!" She paused to watch him currently muttering to himself of ghosts and how he was always right.

"On second thought...don't. Just go....all of you, before it's too late." She reached into the bag, pulled out a few items they would need to escape the sewer, and handed them over to Kowalski.

He looked at her in disbelief.

"You can't possible be thinking..."

"Just trust me." And with that final statement, the tiny lemur turned and sprinted off. They silently watched her disappear within the darkness in which she came.

"What does she mean? What's going on here Kowalski?" Private looked at his friend, his eyes filled with worry. First of all for Skipper and Marlene, but now he was beginning to question their own safety, let alone Rita's.

"I don't know, my friend... But I intend to find out."

* * *

_Side note: Private's nightmare is a referance to the wonderful story **Nighttime Sacrifice**, written by the amazing author **Parche101! ^_^  
**_


	7. Chapter 7: Is this farewell?

_Hey, guys! Oh my gosh, I am SO sorry it's taken me this long to update! Just got done spending the week with a vary...interesting friend, and well... Let's not get into that, the point is the next chapter is here! ^_^ Revised and ready to go! Thank you so much reviewers, you guys are amazing, and give me lots of inspiration. =) I'm leaving for a trip tomorrow, I get back Thursday though, so hopefully it won't take that long to get the next chapter up...Lol._ _Anyways, I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

_Sweet darling you worry too much, my child  
See the sadness in your eyes  
You are not alone in life  
Although you might think that you are._

* * *

Marlene gently stroked the soft features of Skipper's forehead. She had cried herself to sleep hours earlier... When a loud noise startled her awake, her heart longed to believe that she was back in the zoo, and had merely fallen asleep at the Penguins HQ. It would not have been the first time Skipper had allowed her to stay over...

It was a cold December evening and she had came down with a nasty cold. Warm shivers ran up and down her spine as she remembered how Skipper had taken care of her for the rest of that week.....

_Skipper placed a cold flipper to a very sick Marlene's forehead, and realized it was warmer than he had originally thought. _

"_Hoover dam, Marlene! The weather's freezing, but your burning up." He exclaimed, trying to hide the worry that etched somewhere within his deep blue eyes... The ones that gave Marlene's stomach butterflies. _

_The otter coughed, her body shook violently, partially from the cold, and partially from her illness._

"_It-It's just a cold, Sk-Skipper. I-I'll be f-fine."She tried her hardest to put on her best smile. Inside she knew he could read her like a book._

_Skipper knew Marlene, and she would never admit, out loud at least, to how bad she was truly feeling, whether it be physical pain or emotional . Luckily though, they had been friends long enough for him to tell when she was lying._

"_Nonsense. Your coming with me...no ifs ands or buts about it. And don't worry, your in good hands. Rico hasn't lost a mammal yet." _

_Marlene looked at him hesitantly, not liking the idea of Rico playing _nurse_ in the slightest. _

"_Just trust me." He flashed a reassuring grin, and scooped her up in his flippers._

_Marlene sighed. Too weak to find the strength to protest, she rested her head against his shoulder and allowed her heavy eyelids to close._

"_Thank you, Skipper..." She whispered, snuggling deeper into his warm embrace_.

_He looked down at her. A gentle smile graced his beak._

"_It's a pleasure, Marlene." Before long, she had drifted into a pleasant dream. The comfort of knowing he was right there with her made it easy to fall asleep, Skipper was the only one she truly felt...safe with. _

Marlene's eyes burned with salty liquid. That night, she had fallen asleep in Skipper's flippers, and awakened the next morning to the knowledge that he had never left her. She remembered how much she needed him then... How thankful she was that he was there, even in her darkest moments.

The image of Skipper's stainless white chest slowly faded to crimson. At the same moment a loud bang sounded from somewhere nearby, and Marlene jumped. A harsh wave of realization washed over her and the memories, as fast as a painful bullet, suddenly flooded her mind of the previous events that had taken place earlier that same day. It was one she longed so badly to forget, yet one she knew would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Now here she was in the present time, sitting on the dirt grounds of the sewer, gently stroking her best friends forehead. Marlene had positioned Skipper's body so that his head now rest in her lap, careful that she didn't cause him any more pain than he was already in.

She took in his facial expression. The blood had dried around his beak, leaving black clumps in his feathers. His eyes were closed, in what Marlene could only picture a peaceful manner.

"Ya know, Skipper.... I never realized it until now...but you were always there for me, even in the smallest, most unnoticeable ways....I'm sorry it took me this long to realize that....I'm so sorry." She whispered, her voice filled with raw emotion.

"Even now....you were there for me...even when it meant putting yourself in danger...for me." As she spoke, Marlene could feel her heart slowly falling apart.

She took a deep breath, kissed the very top of his forehead so gently she was sure he would not even be able to feel it.

"I'll take care of you...I-I promise. Just like you took care of me that cold December night. I needed you then...and I need you now....but I guess...maybe...you need me too." He shifted in her lap, and she gently placed a paw on his flipper to prevent him from moving a certain way, and hurting himself to a greater extent. Skipper let out a painful groan, and slowly opened his eyes.

"Ma-Marlene?"

"Shh..." She shushed him. He moved to sit upright, but froze when a jolt of pain coursed throughout his body. He let out a cry of pain and clutched his back.

"Oh, Skipper don't move! I don't really know how bad you're hurt, but moving might not be such a good idea right now." Marlene helped him lay back down, her lap once again serving as a pillow.

"Ma-Maybe you're right Marlene..." Skipper winced, breathing heavily.

"You al...always were ya know..."

She smiled brokenly.

"Oh, there were times I was wrong..."

The otter's gaze wandered off, her mind drifted out of the sewer, to brighter days.

"But you...Skipper, you always seem so strong....so... sure of yourself."

Her smile faded, and Marlene looked down at him, hoping he wouldn't notice that her chocolate eyes were bloodshot, the fur underneath them matted from the tears. She felt as if she could cry a literal river, though she held herself together the best she could, reminding herself that had to stay strong for Skipper.

Skipper closed his eyes, his expression being that of shame.

"If I'm so strong, then why.....why couldn't I pro...protect you? Marlene, I...I'm in the army....if I....can't protect the love...of...of my life from a little ol' lemur...then I....I must be a special kind of failure...."

He struggled out the words she had been waiting...longing....praying to hear for what seemed like a lifetime. Words she'd never thought she'd live to hear. Marlene felt her heartbeat rapidly grow faster within her chest.

"Wait a second Skipper... are you actually saying you....you _love_ me?" She needed his reassurance, something to tell her that this was real, and not just another one of her cruel dreams taunting her in her subconscious, showing her all she'd never have.

Skipper sighed, finally gathering the strength to look up into her eyes... The ones staring back at him as though she was looking into his very soul, the ones that he could get lost in, and never want to find his way out.

"I've al....always loved you Marlene... Ever since the day we met.... Come to think of it, here we are....the same place we were before. Not very romantic...." Skipper chuckled weakly, lifting a flipper to clasp her paw, though he released it a moment later, his gaze sadly fell away.

"I understand if you don't feel the same...I mean.... You...your an otter....I...I'm just a penguin. And a terrible excuse for a Skipper..." Tears filled his own eyes. He would have never forgiven himself if anything had happened to her on his watch.

Seeing the tears in his eyes made Marlene's heart melt. She shook her head, and softly took his flipper back into her paw.

"Don't say that....you're the best Skipper I've ever met, and I'm not just saying that because you're the only skipper ever I've met." She smiled, letting out a little laugh.

"Skipper...I....I love you too. I always....have. I was just too afraid to tell you...too afraid that you would..reject me. Silly, right?" She rolled her eyes, though they portrayed the pain kept hidden deep inside.

Skipper looked up at her in surprise.

"No! No...no..not at all! Rejection can be a very frightening thing....it's....well, it's why I didn't tell you this before." His eyes once again avoided her's... Skipper could no longer find the strength now that Marlene had seen him at his weakest.

_What will she think of me now...?_

Marlene shook her head, gave his flipper a soft squeeze.

"If you would have, you know I wouldn't have rejected you."

"I know tha...that now...I-I wish I did then....but I was never really all that great with words..."

Her eyes filled with fresh tears.

"Here's another saying I try to remember. 'Don't think about the past...it'll only bring tears. Live life in the present, and enjoy every moment.'"Marlene said softly.

She smiled down at him despite it all... As much as she longed to believe the fact that he'd make it through whatever, she had told herself that if this truly were his last moments, she'd make it her personal goal to make sure he was happy.... Well, as happy as one possibly could be in such a situation.

Skipper chuckled a little, that same familiar glint returning to his eyes once again, the one Marlene had wondered if she'd ever see again.

"Same ol' Marlene....the same one who's stolen my heart."

"And whoever said you were bad with words? I just think you never really...tried."

Marlene touched him lightly on the head, taking careful thought that his beak was injured.

"Marlene....?"

Skipper's tone grew serious, and he looked into her eyes with such love and passion that Marlene's heart melted and bled at the same time.... She was overjoyed at the news she had finally learned, and yet... She feared losing him. It seemed that had become Marlene's greatest fear. It did not seem fair that he may be stolen from her so soon.

"Yes, Skipper?" She anxiously awaited what he would say.

"Even if I die in this very place, at this very moment... Well that... That will be perfectly fine with me. I mean... How many guys do you know get to...to die in the arms of an angel?"

He reached up to wipe a few fallen tears away from her fur.

"Oh, Marlene... Please don't cry. I've always....hated it when you were upset."

"I-I'm sorry..." She whispered brokenly.

"It's just...I-I don't want to lose you..."

"You won't. I'll always be with you...in here." Skipper smiled, his flipper slowly moved over her chest.

Marlene opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a sorrowful whimper.

"Awww.....isn't that sweet? I _**hate**_ sweet." A sinister voice sneered in the darkness, sounding a lot like Darth Vader.

* * *

Rita ran as fast as her tiny legs would carry her. She paused at the sound of a dark, familiar voice. One that sent cold shivers up and down the young lemurs spine.

"_Awww.....isn't that sweet? I **hate** sweet."_

Rita skidded to a stop. She could have sworn her heart missed a beat.

"Oh no....no!" She whispered in a voice barely even audible.

Rita shook her head, pressed herself along the corner of the brick wall, and peered ever so cautiously over the other side to catch a clear view of the unfolding scene just feet away.... She had positioned herself in a place deep in the shadows, where she could not be seen herself, though she could see out.

A hooded figure stood tall, overshadowing two of it's frightened victims. Rita recognized them at once to be Skipper and Marlene. Her eyes flickered back to the black figure. She noticed it was holding something, hiding something in it's sleeve.

_I never should have agreed to this...._

She heard the sound of a startled gasp, followed by Skipper's voice.

"_Marlene, no!"_

_

* * *

  
_

Suddenly King Julien paused, his eyes frozen to the place where he had watched Rita disappear.

Private turned to Kowalski.

"What's the matter with him?"

The older penguin glanced at the deranged King, and shook his head. He walked up to him, waved a flipper in front of the lemur's face to steal his attention.

Julien blinked.

"I am getting a feeling...it is a feeling that I am supposed to be remembering something....something important in some way.... but I just can't remember what it is!" He exclaimed, placed a thoughtful finger to his chin, and began pacing back and forth.

Kowalski let out a sigh.

"We don't have time for this..."

Julien ignored him, as usual.

"Uh-huh! I am remembering! It has something to do...with.... little Rita's tragic and..."

He paused to shudder.

"Horrific de-de-de-de-death..."

Private and Kowalski took a few steps back, fearing he had finally cracked completely.

"Rita's death? What are you... Rita's not dead." Private looked at him, confused.

"Oh, but that is where you are being wrong penguin! Oh so very _wrong! _You see...Rita, is a _ghost._ The green monster killed her a long time ago.... she...she's go-gone."His tone fell quiet... A mysterious sadness entered his eyes, one that almost seemed foreign to the usually cheerful lemur's persona.

The two penguins exchanged an equal look, each knowing what the other was thinking.

Private was the first to step forward. He placed a flipper on King Julien's shoulder, and looked him in the eye.

"Julien... Rita is very much alive. You can touch her, and feel her... I wouldn't imagine you could do that, if she were really a ghost."

"Bu-But that means..." Suddenly a horrifying revelation overtook his mind, and he started to shake.

"Little Jillian...." He whispered.

"I must save her.... Out of the King's way, penguins!"Julien pushed the two puzzled birds aside, and ran into the same darkness that he had been staring at so long, with such a speed they had never seen before.

"Okay, now nothing makes sense!" Private threw his flippers into the air in defeat.

"Now, Private... Things aren't always what they appear. We may be onto something here..."

Kowalski pressed a thoughtful flipper to his chin, before things began to add up in his head.

"Julien, wait!" He called after him, but the lemur was too far gone.

"Come on Private... It's up to us now." He grabbed his friends flipper and bolted down the tunnel

* * *

"Marlene, no!" Skipper yelled, his tone desperate. Though, he knew she would ignore him. It was apart of her independent spirit. His emotions seethed with anger...he was angry with himself for being unable to do anything to stop his lover from possibly getting herself severely injured...or worse.

"Show yourself, you coward!" She practically screamed to the figure hidden in the dark.

It finally stepped out the of shadows, reveling nothing other than a long black cloak, it's face hidden within a hood. Marlene noticed the form beneath the cloth seemed bony, almost like a skeleton, and reminded her much of the grim reaper. It stood a good few feet higher than the otter, and in it's left arm, held something that shimmered in the light, though not enough for Marlene to make out exactly what it was.

"Gladly." The same dark voice replied.

Marlene could feel the fear already grasping at her heart, longing to latch itself on so it could suck out any bravery living inside.

She took a deep breath, desperately trying to suppress the overwhelming fear.

"Who....are you?" She asked as the stranger took a step forward, though Marlene never backed down. She would will herself to stand in that same position. She would not let Skipper down.

"My name is not important. But don't worry, It is not you who I have come for...."

Marlene glanced back at Skipper, and let out a horrified gasp.

"No.... no... I won't let you take him!"

"Marlene, it's okay."

Skipper said from behind her, in a soft tone.

The otter looked back at him and shook her head.

"No, Skipper.... You can't ask me to do this, no....no! I won't...." The tears had already began to fall from her eyes. Seeing the pain in her eyes, Skipper's heart broke in half... He knew he was the cause of her tears, and that was a fact he wasn't strong enough to bear.

"Marlene... Listen to me. This isn't something I'm forced to do...it's something I-I _want_ to do. If keeping you safe means losing my own life, than so be it... But I'm not going to go on living knowing that I didn't do everything within my power to make sure no harm came to you."

Skipper could no longer stand to look into her sorrowful gaze... He looked passed her, to the hooded stranger.

"If it's me you want... Fine. But leave her out of this."

"Skipper...." Marlene begged.

The figure reached out to grab him.

Marlene refused to move... Skipper gently grabbed her paw, and eyes of bravery, sadness, and love met the frightened, sorrowful, pleading ones of Marlene.

"I love you Marlene... Never forget that."

"Sk-Skipper, please...don't do this..." At that moment, Marlene would have given anything to know that this was merely a dream, a horrible nightmare that she would soon awaken from at any second...

Yet nothing could numb the harsh reality staring back at her, letting her heart know that this was real. Skipper was giving his life in exchange for her's...And there was nothing she could do but scream out his name, scream out her deep love for him, as the hooded stranger stole him away from her touch.

Finally, her strength left her and she fell to her knees, forced to helplessly watch the cruel stranger drag Skipper away by the flippers... She had tried to run after them, even though deep down she knew it was in vain.

"Marlene stay back!"

Skipper's voice echoed off the walls surrounding the area.

"Skipper, please! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Marlene screamed into the darkness.

"YOU CAN'T!" She beat the ground in utter agony, as if it were somehow the verdict she was beating. It felt as if the hooded stranger had literally took a knife and sliced her heart into millions of unrepairable little pieces, never to be whole again.

"I-I...love you..." Marlene whispered brokenly... Tears fell down her cheek's once again, just like a river of sorrow. She knew deep down, they would never really end. The hurt would always be there... The memories always taunting her of everything she could no longer reach out and touch.

Marlene drew her knees to her chest and leaned back against the wall. She glanced to her left... She could still see a slight amount of dried blood, where skipper once lie, beaten and dying...for her. She flinched, buried her face within her knee's to hide away from the world, away from the pain and suffering, the unmerciful sorrow that was eating away at whatever was left of her heart.

In moments like these one often feels as if their world has just come to a horrifying crash, like nothing good could ever come their way again. Like maybe... they were not meant to feel the warmth happiness can bring. All they feel is pain, nothing else exists, and the memory's of the one they love the most comes flooding back in a wave of grief and longing. Suddenly the world is a cold, bitter place. A place that suddenly becomes frightening, and foreign. These are the exact feelings Marlene presently found herself drowning in.

"Skipper....P-Please...co-come back...do-don't leave me...." She choked out. Marlene had never felt so alone in her entire life. A new sense of fear came over her, it was one she had often felt before, but in small waves, never to such an extreme extent.... It was the fear of living a life without Skipper. Never could she have foretold that her secret paranoia would someday become a reality... Or so it would seem...

* * *

_In my hands  
A legacy of memories  
I can hear you say my name  
I can almost see your smile  
Feel the warmth of your embrace  
But there is nothing but silence now  
Around the one I loved  
Is this our farewell?_

_~ Within Temptation.  
_


	8. Chapter 8 Rita's Pain

_Hey, everyone! Wow... Thank you SO much for all of the wonderful reviews! You guys seriously ROCK! ^_^ Now here is another chappie that is not yet revised but since both my be-reader and I have been extremely busy. I thought I'd go ahead and post this chapter anyways. =) (I assure you though, at some point the revised ones will be here!!! Lol.) I really hope you like it, as this one I've been a bit nervous about. _

_Edit: This is the revised one. =)  
_

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* * *

  
_

_I was always a chosen child, the biggest scandal I became, they told me I'd never survive, _

_but survive was my middle name,_

_I've walked around, hoping, just barely coping, Getting it on, getting it wrong._

* * *

Rita pressed herself against the wall to avoid being seen by the strange figure. She watched it drag Skipper roughly by the flippers as it passed. She saw the tears streaming down the bleeding penguins face, and her own heart broke.

_How could I have let it get this far...?_

Finally, the young lemur stepped out of her hiding place and began to slowly follow, keeping a good enough distance behind. This went on for quite some time. The mysterious stranger led Rita down many different tunnels and passageways, and even through a calm crossing of water, before it finally reached out a bony brown paw to touch a certain brick in the wall.

"I hope you've said your final goodbyes to that little otter friend of yours...because your never going to see her again."

The same evil voice taunted, tightening his grip on Skipper's flippers.

He flinched, groaning in pain. Inside, he was worried for his life, yes, though not so much as he worried for Marlene.. How would she cope after he was gone? Would she even be _able _to cope with something like this? Skipper knew she was strong, but everyone reaches a point where something, a tragedy or turmoil, is too much for them to handle. Who was going to look after her when he was gone? These and about a million other similar questions tormented Skipper's mind in what he was sure was the last few hours of his life.

"I thought I told you to leave Marlene out of this!"

He growled out in fury

."Oooh, _Marlene..._cute."

The stranger smirked evilly. Skipper mentally cursed himself.... How could he have let something like that slip?

"If you hurt her....I swear I'll--"

"Relax, like I said...it's not her we want. Oh, and uh...between you and me, I hope you like pain, because what I've been instructed to do to you...isn't going to be pleasant."

It laughed evilly. Rita's eyes lit up in alarm at the sound of the creepy voice, it was one she knew all too well, and one she feared. She could feel her heart pounding within her chest, even as she stood there, behind a stone pillar, peering out to get a better look. Finally, the bony hand reached within it's sleeve and pulled out what Rita could now make out to be a knife.

"Now...we can either do this the easy way, or the hard way..if you answer the questions cooperatively, then I'll kill you quickly.... But if you don't....well let's just say things will begin to get messy. We may even get so far as your precious little..._Marlene._"

A sneer.

The stranger was confident he had found Skipper's biggest weakness from the moment he had first layed eyes on the two together.

Skipper's eyes burned with pure anger.

"I thought you said she wouldn't get hurt!"

A paw reached out and rapped itself around his neck in seconds, cutting off Skipper's air supply.

"Oh I forgot to mention... I'm not a man of my word."

Psychotic laughter rang out through the walls of the sewer, Rita was sure it would be heard even by King Julien and the other's, if they were still underground.

_No...no...I can't..they can't expect me to just stand by and let this happen! _

Rita had been fighting an inward battle for quite some time now, and she had finally made her choice.

_This is it... Be brave Rita...._

She took a deep breath, shook her head, and walked a few steps forward.

"Stop!"

The young lemur screamed out, unable to witness this any longer.

"Put him down."

Rita demanded, making careful effort that her voice portrayed the courage she didn't feel. The figure slowly turned to her and pulled back it's hood, revealing the skeleton-like facial structure of a weasel who looked to be around the same age of King Julien. A large scar ran across his left eye, much like Rita's own. Under the cloak, partially hidden, was a small machine. Rita recognized it at once to be a device one would use to disguise their voice. He seemed slightly taken aback, though it only took him a moment for him to recover. His face suddenly turned angry, and he dropped Skipper.

The penguin landed on the ground hard on his bad side, gasping for air.

"Rita? Wha... _What_ ,exactly, do you think you're doing?"

A squeaky voice said, though still somehow, if possible, there was a certain edge to it that made it sound intimidating, and sinister.

"Something I should have done along time ago..... I never should have listened to you."

She whispered the last few words in disbelief at what she had let herself become. Rita shook her head to remind herself of the painful memories, the long horrid path that would someday lead her to the same spot she was presently standing in. How it happened exactly, how it got so bad... Rita may never know. Her gaze shifted to Skipper, who was only beginning to catch his breath, and then back to the weasel.

"You really are a monster...I should have realized that a long time ago...when you ripped me away from my family."

"Rita, now you know I didn't do that...the humans did that to you. Besides, your family never wanted you anyway... I was the one who took care of you, fed you... I raised you, Rita."

He said, taking a few steps towards her, which, in turn, had caused Rita to take a few steps back. She looked at him, finally meeting his seemingly gentle gaze... Only this time, she could finally see beyond the lies and deception he had manipulated her into believing were true for so long, as long as she could remember.

"What's my real name? Not the name that you called me...how come you would never tell me that? Who are, or were, my family? You never told me anything about my past...only that my parents never wanted me, and I was better off where I was going after King Julien banished me..... with_ you._"

Rita's voice remained calm, unreadable. Though her eyes showed all. The hurt...betrayal...bitterness..and finally, the horrible realization that all she had ever known, was just a seemingly inviting fantasy...fiction.

"I don't even remember being banished...it's only what _you _told me."

"Now wait...just a minute, here. Where is all this coming from? Of course all I've told you is true! Why question it now?"

He glanced at Skipper before returning his glare to Rita.

"Is _he_ the reason....?"

The weasel paused for a moment, leaned his head back to laugh as if she had uttered the most comedic thing he had ever heard.

"Rita, you ca-can't be serious..."

He stumbled over his word, wiping a single hysterical tear from his eye.

"A _penguin..._ a very..naughty little penguin who is wanted in 20 different states. I told you this! He's no one important, believe me, Rita... He's no one you want to mess with."

Rita paused for a few seconds. She looked back at Skipper and their eyes met.... She knew all too well what evil looked like, and with her short time of being with him, she could only see kindness.

"I don't believe you. "

She stated calmly, returning her gaze to the weasel. She took a few steps forward, this time braver than before.

"Rita, he's the enemy...you knew this was a trap a long time ago... I've told you before, the likes of him are better off **_dead and gone, _**wiped form this earth for good."

He replied through gritted teeth. She stared back at him, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

"Don't you get it? He..._saved my life._"

The words themselves seemed sweet enough, though there was a certain deadly venom hidden somewhere within her tone. The weasel looked taken aback at what he had just heard come out of her mouth. He faked a gasp, clutched his chest as if he were in some acute pain, and stumbled backwards.

"Why, Rita! I'm disappointed in you, ya know.... Ya feed a child, raise her, feed her, comfort her when she has a nightmare, clean up after her every time she makes a mess! And_ this _is the kind of thanks I get in return?"

He turned away, muttered something inaudible, before whirling around to face her. He crossed his arms and glared down at Rita much like a parent would a misbehaving child.

"Who am I?"

She ignored him and asked instead, holding his stare. It was the question she had been seeking the answer to, for as long as she could remember. The weasel looked confused for a moment, before his expression turned serious, and his tone became dangerous.

"I'll tell you who you are _Rita... _you are the one who is going to bring this _criminal _to _justice,_ your the one who holds the key. Let us not forget that you do play a vital role in this, so I don't suggest you do anything stupid."

He growled the words almost as a threat. Rita took a few steps backwards. The sound of his voice sent old familiar chills down her spine once again. Inside, Rita was terrified, though she knew she could not show it, or it would become her great mistake. Skipper looked up from where he had been kneeling on the floor all this time, desperately trying to ignore the searing pain coursing throughout his body. Instead, he focused on the scene unfold between the two.

So far, Skipper had learned that Rita and whoever the weasel could possibly be, had obviously known each other before they're unlucky meeting in the sewer, and from the heat in Rita's crystal eyes, he could tell she was less than thrilled to be apart of whatever secret organization the weasel seemed to be apart of. The way the tiny lemur had appeared seemingly out of nowhere told him she had been following the weasel for awhile now. For what reason, he could not be sure. Skipper took mental notes of both lemur and weasel's body language, as well as conversation. All of this he had learned from military drills as well as life experience.

Presently though, Skipper noticed the look of terror hidden somewhere deep in Rita's guileful eyes, and he knew she was trying her hardest to hide the fear eating at her insides. The weasel, on the other hand, had developed an evil smile...one that told him he knew exactly which buttons to push to keep Rita under his thumb, but only so long as she allowed him to do so. Rita was young and frightened. Skipper could tell by the way she kept backing up, despite her desperate attempts to hide the fear she had deep inside.

He could almost see her visibly cringe. His eyes flickered back to the weasel and he knew by the gleeful glint in his green eyes, that he must have seen it as well. Rita didn't deserve this... Skipper knew that, and his stone heart broke for her. She was, after all, still a child and she deserved at least a chance at a good tears in the lemur's eyes were a result of overwhelming regret and sorrow. Skipper had known a lot of schemers and liars in the past, and he knew the genuine pain in her eyes was sincere.

He watched the weasel take a few steps forward, cornering Rita against the wall.

"Volcom , please..."

Rita whispered uneasily.

Skipper's eyes lit up.

_Volcom...? Now where have I heard that name before...._

It sounded all too familiar and yet, he couldn't place it.

"Go ahead, Rita...I guess now is as good of time as any to tell you.... "

The weasel let out a long sigh and Rita watched him carefully, as did Skipper.

"Our Mission....was only to find this scum, and **destroy**him. We can gather plenty of information from the others. "

That made each of their hearts skip a beat. Skipper's mind immediately flashed back to Marlene. Worry struck his heart not only for his lover especially, but also for his troops. Rita visibly cringed, she could think of nothing other than what she wanted to do, and that was turn and flee. Nevertheless, for whatever reason, she found she couldn't move.

"Go on... Show ol' pops you've got it in you."

The weasel grinned a taunting smile of yellow teeth. Volcom extended his arm and in his paw held a silver knife that glimmered in the light, and seemed to cause Rita to tremble. She looked at the object, let out a gasp of shock and disbelief.

"Oh my... No!"

Rita exclaimed in horror, finally registering the horrid deed he expected of her.

"I can't do that..."

Volcom let out a long sigh, and Skipper noticed a fake sadness entered his eyes. He looked down at Rita in what he was trying to portray as sympathy. Wether Rita would buy this or not, he could not be sure.

"Rita....I didn't want to be the one to tell you this but.... Skipper, is the one who...."

The weasel paused to glanced at her reaction, and to see if he had her full attention. He did. Rita's eyes had never left his face.

"Who...killed your family."

Tears sprang to the lemurs eyes at the bitter memory, and her gaze flickered to Skipper, who's eyes pleaded her not to believe the things Volcom had said.

"Go on Skipper.....tell her."

Volcom grinned his way when he was sure Rita wasn't looking.

"What?! I would never.... No! Rita, don't--"

Skipper was silenced by a harsh slap across the face that reopened his beak wound.

"Do it Rita."

Volcom grabbed Rita's paw and left in it, the knife he had been holding. "Take this dagger, and drive it into his heart." Skipper could feel his own heart pound against his chest fearfully as he watched Rita hesitantly take the knife into her paw in silence, and walk a few steps towards him.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Rita's POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

I finally willed myself to take that horrible metal object into my paw, and clutch it tight. I could feel my body begin to tremble.

_Seriously, Volcom, this is taking it __more_ than a little too far.... 

This was never apart of the plan! I was never supposed to actually _kill_ anyone!

I looked down at Skipper, his own eyes filled with tears of unbearable sorrow. I could tell, just by the broken look on his face, how much he cared for the ones he loved, and also how terrified he was of death itself. That part was painfully obvious as he turned his head to look up at me. Beaten and helpless, he opened his bleeding beak to speak, which looked to be a pretty painful task in itself. I tried my hardest not to cringe, my own heart bleeding for him.

"Ri-Rita please...you've got to believe me, I would never do anything to intentionally harm you..or your family! Heck, I don't even _know_ them!"

I inwardly flinched. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. The words seemed so hard to believe, but one thing I knew for certain is that he hadn't tried to harm me yet. I could tell Volcom was getting impatient now. He brought out a paw with abnormally razor sharp claws and drug them across Skipper's good side. I wanted so desperately to look away as blood began to spill from the fresh wound, but I knew Volcom, and he would have none of would only call me a coward, and...well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty.

There were even times the little weasel would turn on _me_ and cut _me._ He would always drill in my head time and time again, that Skipper was the enemy. A wanted criminal who had committed unmentionable felonies, horrible treacherous deeds he refused to speak of. Now that I had met Skipper for myself, things no longer seemed to add up.

"Shut up, you!"

Volcom snarled.

I inwardly cringed at the sound of Skipper's strangled cry of pain. He had been through so much...and all for the sake of his true love. Love...If ever I were to find out what that truly looked like, I'm pretty sure that moment would be.... I was never a romantic. In fact I despised the mere thought of such a thing, but that was mainly because of the envious feeling that crept up on me at this moment, one I was all too familiar with, and also one that I hated with a passion.

I felt a paw on my back, and I stumbled forwards from the impact.

"What are you waiting for, Rita? _Do it..._"

Volcom growled out the words angrily. I can't remember anything about my past, other than what _he _has told me, and there are times I wonder if even what he tells me is true, or just pieces of something more...? I can never be sure as he seems to like to change the story. I glanced at Volcom, took a deep breath, and walked a few steps forward. I couldn't take this any longer...I had to find a way to put a stop to this penguins constant misery...

* * *

_How do you love someone, without getting hurt, how do you love someone without crawling in the dirt  
So far in my life thoughts have blocked the sun  
How do you love, How do you love someone  
How do you love, How do you love someone._

_~Ashely Tisdale. _

_"How do you Love Someone"  
_

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_I know this chapter didn't feature Marlene and the other's, but since Rita is still such a mystery to the audience, I wanted to include a chapter just for her, so you guys could learn a little more about her, and how she plays into the grand scence of things...a little about her background, ect. The other's will be in the next chapter though, so don't worry. =) I hope you enjoyed it! ^_^  
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	9. Chapter 9: Understanding

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___Hey guy's!!!! I am SO sorry for the incredibly long wait!_ I've been really busy with class's and other fun things, so please bear with me as I am trying to get the chapters out as soon as possible for you guys, so please be patent. =) Thank you SO much to my reviewers! You guys give me so much inspiration to continue. =) This one isn't revised just yet, so please try to bear with the spelling/grammar mistakes... The revised one will be here as soon as possible, I just wanted to get this one out to you guy so you didn't have to wait so long. :) 

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_"You hold the answers deep within your own mind.  
Consciously, you've forgotten it.  
That's the way the human mind works.  
Whenever something is too unpleasant, to shameful for us  
to entertain, we reject it.  
We erase it from our memories.  
But the imprint is always there."_

_(Can't wash it all away)  
(Can't Wish it all away)  
(Can't hope it all away)  
(Can't cry it all away)_

_The pain that grips you  
The fear that binds you  
Releases life in me  
In our mutual  
Shame we hide our eyes  
To blind them from the truth  
That finds a way from who we are  
Please don't be afraid  
When the darkness fades away._

_~Evanescence.  
_

King Julien ran as fast as his legs would possibly dare to carry him. Acknowledging he had made a mistake, was not something he did often, let alone one that was so grave he had blocked it out of his memory entirely. He had thought by doing so, by pretending the event hadn't occurred, in addition it would somehow erase the pain. If something had never even happened, then how could it hurt...?

Little had the lemur King known, the pain of such a tragedy never really goes away forever. Grief makes it's home somewhere deep within the mind and heart... Forgotten by the self conscience, but the imprint still remains. The emotions still there, lie dormant until the thought is resurfaced. Even years later.

The lemur turned a sharp corner, tripped, and fell right on top of something soft and fury. Julien heard a frightened scream, and seconds later he was shoved onto the ground.

"Ge-Get away from me!" A female's voice stammered. He noted she sounded terrified.

"Julien?"

He stood up planning to give whoever had 'tripped him' a piece of his mind, and a lecture of how he was the King, and that was frowned upon... That is until he realized exactly who it was.

"Marlene!"

Julien jumped back to get a better look at her... The otter was curled against the wall, her paws clutched the brick as if for some sort of security. She reminded him much of a scared, lonely little puppy who had just lost it's mother. She looked so... _sad._

Julien cocked his head to the side.

"Eh, Marlene... Why are you holding onto the wall oh so tightly, as if you it were real...?"

He asked, puzzled.

Marlene wasn't able to meet his gaze. She simply released the wall, looked away, and sniffed in what Julien was sure was some great sadness, he just couldn't place the reason for the emotion.

"Eh, okay you don't have to answer that, even though I am the King... Have you seen a small black-ish looking little lemur pass by here, by any chance? She looks like a lemur, of course...like me...only a little taller than that annoying little Mort..."

Julien paused, noticed Marlene didn't appear to be listening. She was almost entirely facing the wall, and her head was down in some sort of unknown misery.

"It is vary rude to not be paying attention to the King, especially when he is saying something that is of vary much importance!"

He stomped his foot in annoyance, glared down at her.

"Since when is _anything_ you have to say important, Julien?"

Marlene replied in a dead, monotone voice. She simply stared off in the distance at something that Julien wasn't even sure was there. The otter's eyes, once cheery and full of life, held nothing but pure emptiness.

What on earth had gotten her so down?

"Heey, Marlene! It would be nice to be able to looook into those pretty little otter eyes of yours!"

Julien waved a paw in front of her face, in hopes of finally grasping her attention.

"Hellooo? Anybody in there?" He lightly tapped her forehead.

"Julien, just _stop it!_ Okay?"

Marlene looked up just to catch the shocked look that had flashed upon the lemurs face. She knew he wasn't used to being yelled at in such a manner, (at least no by her) and a pang of guilt hit her stomach.

Julien blinked awkwardly.

Marlene sighed.

"I-I'm sorry..it's just...."

She couldn't finish. She bit her lip and turned away, desperately trying to hold back another wave of hysterical tears.

"Just...what? What in Madagascar, could be oh so wrong that you would actually be feeling the need to _yell _at your King?"

He tried to appear offended, but his eyes told Marlene that somewhere deep inside those crazy yellow circles, was a heart, and her sudden outburst had hurt it. She knew that Julien wasn't quit sure how to handle such a situation, and he was doing the best he could, even if his antics were a bit odd. Besides, Julien had no way of knowing the emotional trauma she was going through..or the great depth of the pain she felt.

"Sk-Skipper...he...they..I...."

Marlene stumbled over the words, unsure even of how to begin to explain the horrid events that had just taken place. Inside she felt lost... It all still felt like a dream.

"Skipper...what?"

Julien asked, cocked his head to the side.

"He-He's...gone."

She whispered, turning away from him to hide the tears. She felt as if they would never come to an end.

"Gone? What are you to be meaning..."

"Gone....de-dead!"

Marlene forced herself to say the word she had tried so hard to reject out of her mind completely.

"They took him away..."

She didn't look up to see the lemur King's reaction to this, though judging from the unusual silence, she could tell it had come as disturbing news, if anything, even for him.

For several minutes, all that could be heard was Marlene's quiet sobs, echoing off the walls of the sewer. After a period of time, the otter felt a gentle hand on her back. It moved in circular motions in what she guessed was Julien's way of attempting to offer her some sort of comfort. She looked up, surprised to come face to face with his concerned expression. Was that actual...sympathy she saw in his eyes?

"Eh...it will be okay, Marlene...you'll see him again one of the days, and then you and the little flightless bird can shake your booty's with the sky spirits, and live happily ever after!"

Julien lifted her chin with a single finger so that she was forced to look directly into his eyes, and smiled reassuringly.

Marlene was unsure of what to say at first, not used to the kinder side of the lemur King. The one that rarely showed, or so it seemed.

"You really...believe that?" She sniffed.

"But of course, silly otter. If this was all we had for a party, and nothing to look forward too after de big light at the end of the tunnel, don't you think it would be a pretty lame party?"

He asked, the same awkward smile still on his face.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I have a little black lemur to be rescuing..."

Julien patted her on the head, though before he could run off, Marlene grabbed his arm and pulled him into a friendly embrace.

"Julien? Thank you." She whispered.

The sudden action had taken him by surprise, nevertheless it didn't take him long to return the hug.

They each pulled away seconds later, and Marlene watched him disappear into one of the many tunnels of the sewer.

"Wait... Where are you going?! Rescue who, again?!"

She stood up, and yelled after him, but it he was too far gone. She bawled her paws into fists and growled in frustration.

Suddenly, Marlene felt a pair of flippers grasp her shoulders and she let out a yelp. Her aching heart dared to believe for a split second that they may belong to Skipper. Her face fell slightly when she whipped around to face Kowalski. She looked passed him to see Private and Maurice following not too far behind.

"Marlene! I can't believe it, we found you! We finally found you!"

Private exclaimed, ecstatic. He ran to her, rapped his flippers around her middle and squeezed tightly.

"Pr-Private! Ca-Can't breathe.."

"Oh, sorry!" The excited young penguin immediately let go, and Marlene gasped for air.

"Private, Kowalski! I'm-I'm..happy to see you too!"

She stammered, desperately trying to muster up whatever enthusiasm she could. Of course, apart of Marlene was genuinely happy to see them again, though it was almost an impossible task to fake a smile after what she had been through. She hoped they wouldn't notice that her eyes were bloodshot, or the matted fur beneath them that would indicate she had been crying.

"And Maurice...your....not a giant anymore. Do you still want to kill us?"

She asked, eyed him wearily.

The short lemur walked alongside Private, and looked at Marlene with nothing short of sympathy in his yellow eyes.

"Listen, I'm...really sorry about that. I really don't know what came over me... I honestly don't even remember anything!"

He exclaimed, pleading her to believe him.

Marlene looked at him, her own eyes hollow. The vibrant life they once held had vanished.

"It-It doesn't matter...."

Fresh tears filled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that night. She dreaded delivering the tragic news her heart longed to just erase, believe what it wanted... Nonetheless, Marlene's mind knew better, and the half of her, what little of it was left, clung to the sanity that told her she would be committing a cruel crime if she were to lie to the Penguins left behind, Skipper's soon-to-be former troops, forever.

Private noticed the liquid in her eyes at once, and his expression fell into worry.

"Marlene... What's wrong?"

One look at her face and Kowalski, too, could tell something wasn't right. He had come up with a few theories already, in his head, of what could possibly be troubling the otter, but he thought better of it not to speak until she had first shared.

Marlene took a deep breath and turned away, unable to bear the broken faces she knew they would soon enough wear, after they had learned the devastating news she was about to tell them.

"It's Skipper... He... He's go-gone..."

Her voice broke, and she covered her face with her paws so they could no longer see her cry.

Maurice shifted awkwardly. He stared at the ground, guilt consumed his insides. He felt terrible about what he was told he did, though he was honestly unable to remember anything about the event.

Private had walked over to Marlene the moment she began to sob, raped his flippers around her, and held her close. Presently though, the otter's face lie buried within the warm features of Privates shoulder, and, in turn, his face was buried in her soft her, each grieving for their lost loved one.

Marlene wanted so badly to simply cry the pain away, but no-matter how hard she cried, the immerse pain only seemed to grow as memories of Skipper began to replay in her mind.

_Marlene eyed Skipper wearily. Somehow, he hadn't felt himself today. His odd behavior had been going on for at least a week, and she knew the other's had noticed the change in the leader penguin, especially Private._

_Marlene could tell it seemed to have effected him the most by the constant worry in the young ones eyes, though try as she may to press the other's for some kind of information, no one seemed to wish to talk about it, and it had been driving her nuts ever since. _

"_Skipper, are you sure everything's fine?" She asked, dreading the asher she knew would be a lie._

_He fidgeted for a moment or so, an unusual act for the leader who always appeared to have it together. _

"_Why ye-yes Marlene, everything's fine.. Why-Why would you ask a silly thing like that? everything's just peachy!"_

_Skipper said, faking enthusiasm. There came the old familiar lopsided grin that told Marlene he had something to hide. _

"_Well for one...your stuttering. You never stutter unless something is wrong." _

_Marlene stated simply, placing her hands on her hips, she shot him a skeptical look_.

_Skipper looked around the dimly lit room of the HQ. His eyes wondered over to the four concrete bunks that were built in to the wall, to make sure the other four penguins were still sound asleep. Much to his relief, they were. The atmosphere seemed oddly dearly on the chilly October morning, giving Marlene a strange chill._

_She couldn't place weather or not the feeling was motivated by the cloudy weather itself, or something deeper. Nonetheless, she knew something was terribly wrong, everything inside her seemed to scream that something horrible was about to happen, though she had no idea what it could be._

_Aside from Skipper's recent bizarre behavior, and the other's unspoken concern, nothing too out of the ordinary had taken place that week, yet Marlene found herself wanting to cry for a reason unknown._

_Skipper looked into her eyes, his own welled with moisture._

_Seeing the tears in her friend's eyes had scared Marlene, because it made her heart leap in excitement. Though it was not a good kind of excitement, it was the kind you get if you know deep down that something is dangerously _wrong.

"_Ma-Marlene...I have to tell you something.... I..."_

_Skipper paused to take a deep breath, and Marlene tried her best to prepare herself for the worst._

_Again, Skipper's gaze fell back upon his sleeping troops. Each lost in their own world of peaceful slumber. He watched little Private flop onto his belly and hug his pillow tightly. Inside, Skipper's heart was breaking, Marlene could tell this just by the look on his face, and it was killing her to be left in the dark._

"_Could we...step outside for a minute?"_

_He asked, his tone suddenly grave and solemn, sending another shiver down Marlene's spine. It seemed to to bring a deeper realization that whatever Skipper was about to say, was serious._

"_Sure."_

_She nodded, and silently followed him out the secret metal door of the Penguins HQ, only Marlene no longer considered it to be secret, as everyone, including King Julien seemed to know that it was there._

_Skipper closed the door behind them ever so gently, as not to wake the other's, though he had not yet turned to face Marlene. Instead, he leaned against one of the many brick wall's of the sewer, with his head held low._

"_Skipper...?"_

_Marlene could feel her heart beat anxiously against her chest._

_What on earth could possibly be wrong?_

"_Follow me, Marlene."_

_Skipper instructed, though his voice lacked it's usual authority. _

_Marlene held her tongue for now, suppressing the endless questions that longed to burst from her lips. Instead, she obediently followed him up a rusty ladder attached to the brick wall. It led to a manhole, in which Skipper opened, and motioned for her to clime through. Marlene pulled herself up without much difficulty, and hopped onto the pavement of a lonely sidewalk of New York's Central Park Zoo._

_She took a moment to survey her surroundings, and noticed they were in a secluded area of the zoo where no other animal exhibits could be seen. To her right, stood a huge oak tree, underneath it, a small patch of grass._

_Skipper led her over to the tree, sat down, and let himself fall against it's trunk. Marlene followed hesitantly, took a seat beside him._

"_Okay, I can't stand it anymore! What's going on?"_

_She exclaimed, no longer able to take the uneasy silence that had fallen from the moment Skipper last spoke. _

_Marlene crossed her arms and glared at Skipper in such a way that demanded an explanation._

_He took a deep breath, looked her directly in the eye._

"_I knew you were going to ask that sooner or later, but I wanted to wait for the right moment to tell you."_

_Marlene eyed him carefully. The suspense seemed to be eating her alive._

_She leaped up, unable to sit still for s second longer. _

"_What are you talking about, Skipper? I'm really not in the mood for your little mind games right now, Just tell me!"_

_Marlene hadn't meant to sound harsh, but his tone and the way he was talking was really beginning to scare her._

"_Actually, Marlene the reason I didn't want to say this in front of the other's, is because I brought you here....because....."_

_Skipper paused, seeming to be having a bit of trouble forcing the words out of his beak. _

"_Yes?" _

_Marlene urged him to continue. _

"_Since there's no easy way to say this, I'm just going to be straight forward with you, Marlene....I brought you here.....to say goodbye." _

_The otter's fragile heart immediately jumped in alarm, and her face fell into that of a mixture of shocked horror._

"_Go-Goodbye....? What? No! There is no way... Why?"_

_Marlene looked at him, desperate for answers to the questions that had been racing through her mind all this time._

"_What does that even mean? Ar-Are you leaving the zoo? Did something go bad on one of your little missions or something, and now you have to evacuate, or something like that?! Did Dr. Blowhead or whatever his name is send some sort of spy here, and that's why your leaving?" _

_The questions seemed to flow from her mouth involuntarily as Marlene's mind struggled to process the information just put into it._

"_It's Dr. Blowhole, and no, surprisingly enough, this has nothing to do with him. Marlene...I know you don't know this but...I....have a wife."_

_Marlene tried to appear sympathetic, and hide the wave of disappointment that had washed over her once she had learned he had a wife. At that time, it had made her feel like a complete idiot for having a crush on him. She had just recently been transmitted to the Central Park Zoo, yet she had felt an unexplained connection with Skipper from the moment they met._

_Oddly enough, King Julien had become her first friend then, though as time went on, she realized she had found a better friend in Skipper, who had warmed up to her only after realizing she was not a spy working for Dr. Blowhole... whoever he was. _

_Marlene silently listened as Skipper opened his beak to continue._

"_Well....used too......she-she died a week ago."_

_Marlene mentally kicked herself, instantly feeling guilty for the slightest amount of happiness that erupted somewhere deep within her many emotions. She hated herself for her inability to control her feelings, yet at the same time she genuinely felt bad for him..._

_Despite her own tragic love life, she knew her pain would most likely never compare to what Skipper must have been going through after suffering the death of a female he was so obviously madly in love with._

_Marlene had thought then that he would never feel the same about her, and had wished she had met Skipper long before his former wife._

"_Oh, Skipper... I'm so sorry. What happened?"_

_He shifted uncomfortably, avoiding her curious eyes._

"_It's....too terrible to speak of...a mission went sour...and...."_

_Skipper shuddered, shook his head in an attempt to rid his mind of the all too recent memory._

"_I blame myself for her death...._"

_He drew in a breath, looked into her eyes. _

"_Marlene....I'm leaving."_

_Marlene could tell this was probably the hardest thing Skipper had ever had to admit, and her heart ached for him, now loosing all sense of the relief she had felt earlier. She had hated herself a little more for even feeling the emotion itself with every ticking second. _

"_Whe-When are you coming back?"_

_She stammered, terrified of the answer. _

_Marlene tried again after a few moments of silence. _

_Skipper sighed. Finally, he stood up, put a gentle flipper on her left shoulder._

"_I'm afraid I won't be coming back, Marlene..."_

_The news had hit her like a ton of bricks. She could feel everything within her scream to rewind time, and pretend the event had never even took place._

"_No-Not coming back... What...."_

_Skipper silenced her, moved his flipper to the otter's lips to shush her._

"_I don't expect you to understand what I'm about to do....goodbye Marlene, thank you for being such a good friend."_

_He began waddling in a direction that Marlene had recognized, to her utter horror, to be the alligator exhibit. It seemed something had finally clicked within her brain, and she had finally put the pieces of the puzzle together._

_Skipper was going to kill himself._

_Marlene's eyes had widened to saucers and in seconds she had ran in front of him, with his shoulder's in her grip, her creamy eyes pleading for him to listen to what she had to say._

"_Skipper, wait! What about your troops? What about Private, Rico, and Kowalski?! Your practically a father to poor little Private! If you leave, they'll be all alone! Your obviously not thinking straight right now, just DON'T GO IN THERE!"_

_Marlene hadn't meant to scream, but it was all she could have done to keep him from making the biggest mistake of his life...or the end of it._

_Skipper looked taken aback at her sudden out burst. He stumbled a few feet back, let out a gasp, staring at something directly behind her in what looked like shock, but could have been a mixture of anything really._

"_Private!"_

_Marlene whipped around to face the shorter, younger penguin. Privates eyes had been blood shot, and he seemed to be clutching onto a blanket in search of some sort of comfort._

_He stared at the two in confusion and question._

"_So-So Sorry, Skippa... I didn't mean to interrupt."_

_Privates gaze dropped to the ground in shame, fearing he had done something to upset his leader._

"_Private...I..."_

_Marlene attempted, though stopped when Skipper sent her a look, and stepped aside to give them a little space. _

_Skipper glanced at her, and cleared his throat, trying to put on the best act he could so that Private did not become suspicious. _

"_What's the matter, soldier?"_

_He asked, his voice returning to it's usual military tone._

"_I-I had a nightmare....."_

_Private shuffled his feet, keeping his eyes on the ground, too ashamed to look into the icy blue eyes of his leader._

_Skipper arched an eyebrow. _

"_Another one? But I haven't let you watch any horror movies in weeks...Unless Rico smuggled them in while I had my back turned... I swear, that little pyro-maniac can't seem to keep his flippers off those things!"_

_He exclaimed, suddenly upset that one of his troops would disobey an order. _

"_He'll be on maintenance duty for a week..."_

_Skipper murmured, glaring at the ground as if it were Rico himself._

"_No, don't blame Rico Skippa, he didn't smuggle in any movies... Besides, the nightmare wasn't about a movie... It was about...."_

_He hesitated, struggling to continue._

"_About..?"_

_Skipper urged him on, anxious to hear about whatever was bothering his young recruit._

"_About....you."_

_Skipper's eyes widened a bit in surprise._

"_Go on..."_

_Private too a deep breath, before continuing._

"_Well....no-not saying this would ever happen in real life, but in the dream....after Lo-Lola's death...you kind of....well....you ki-killed yourself...and all of us were forced to do nothing but watch you do it.....it's like we couldn't move, or do anything to save you!"_

_By this point, tears were poring down both sides of his face. As Marlene watched the scene unfold from a few feet away, she had instantly caught the immense amount of guilt in Skipper's eyes after hearing Privates horrifying dream. Little had he known how frighteningly close the image in his mind compared to reality. Marlene could only be grateful that Private had not noticed the same. _

"_Calm down Private....it was just a dream. It doesn't mean it's going to happen... Okay?"_

_Skipper said, keeping his voice steady, he faked the best smile he possibly could._

_Private looked at him tearfully, still trembling from the effects of his nightmare._

"_Are-Are you sure, Skippa?"_

_He swallowed, placed a gentle flipper on the younger penguins back. _

"_I'm not going anywhere Private,,,, I promise."_

_Skipper smiled warmly, glancing back at Marlene, a silent message that he promised her the same. _

Skipper's voice seemed to echo the words almost audibly as the memory played out on Marlene's brain as if it were a movie, and she were watching her life on a screen. She and Skipper had been through so much together... How could she ever be able to except the fact that he was gone forever? She glanced down at the penguin she was currently holding, and tightened her grip a bit. Marlene felt for Private... He was far too young to lose the only parental figure he had ever known.

Kowalski stood only a few feet away, his head down, shedding silent tears. Maurice stood a little to his right, his own head down in shame and remorse.

No one said anything for quit some time, until Kowalski heard a distant sound. Even though he could not make out exactly what it was, or where it came from, with all that had happened, he wasn't taking anymore chances. He walked up to Marlene, cleared his throat, and put a gentle flipper on her shoulder.

"We should....probably get out of here."

Kowalski said carefully, only wishing he could take the obvious pain in his friends eyes.

Marlene slowly let go of Private and shook her head.

"This isn't over... Whoever did this _**won't**_ get away with it."

She growled, a mixture of hatred, anger, and revenge burned in her eyes.

* * *

Rita stood over Skipper, the knife now firmly clutched within her paws. Volcom did not stand far behind, he wanted to keep an eye on her.

**~~~~~~~~Rita's POV~~~~~~~~**

It was easy to tell what he was doing... He wanted me close enough to his side so that I couldn't escape. He wanted to keep me under his control. Volcom didn't trust me... At least not completely, and with good reason, I must admit. He had no idea what I was capable of... And neither did I, fully.

I stood with my head down to hide the unshed tears that had somehow managed to find their way into my eyes once again. I shook my head, closed my eyes as tightly as I could, tried to ready for myself for the task I knew must be completed. Unable to look into the weak and frightened eyes of the penguin, I finally raised the knife.... I couldn't hold this off any longer...

"Go on...that's it... That's my girl! Do it Rita...make daddy proud!" The weasel cheered from behind.

I gripped the knife a little tighter, gritted my teeth at the fake title... Volcom was no more a father to me than a mass murderer.

Finally though, I brought the weapon down as hard as I could, but before it could reach Skipper's flesh, or even the feathers on his chest, I opened my eyes, whipped around, and flung the knife at the ceiling as hard as I possibly could. I glanced up with just enough time to see it wedged in a crack of a manhole before turning my eyes on Volcom.

"Not today Volcom."

I growled out, and right in this moment is when the metal lit of the manhole above us gave way from the sudden infliction, and fell. It collided with Volcom's head just as I had planned, knocking him unconscious.

"That won't hold him for long... Come on... I've gotta' get you otta' here."

I stared at the spot where Volcom now lay beneath the fallen lid of the manhole, but only for a few seconds, we were loosing time.

I turned and ran to Skipper, knelt down beside him, looked into his suspicious eyes.

"Wha-what are you..."

"Don't worry, I'm a friend."

I replied, reading his thoughts from the expression he held on his face.

I touched his chest, ran a single hand across his wounds. Just as I had suspected, They were deep, and apart of me feared for his vary life.

I could see him winch.

"Here, hold my hand. It helps."

Skipper seemed to eye me for a moment or so, so I reached out and grabbed his flipper, held it gently.

I moved my hand along his chest where the crimson color of blood was already beginning to turn black as it dried.

"I'm gonna warn you, this part kinda stings..."

I could hear Skipper groan in complaint as my hand lit up, and so did his chest... He squeezed the one holding his flipper hard enough that it probably would have hurt if he weren't so weak from all the blood ha had lost.

"I know, I'm sorry... But look, your rib is now back in place!"

I removed my paw, pulled a huge wad of gauze seemingly out of thin air, and began rapping his visible wounds as fast as I possibly could.

"I'm sorry if it hurts, I'm kind of in a hurry."

I said hastily.

Skipper stared at me in the same manner as the other's had when I handed Kowalski that black bag of supplies.

I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh. I knew I would have to explain myself eventually, but now was not the time or place for a number of different reasons. For one, it was too risky...

"Look, it's a long story. I can do things that...well that normal animals, or mammals, whatever you wanna call them, can't..."

I attempted, hoping he wouldn't press the subject. We needed to move.

"So I've noticed....but that still doesn't explain--"

"A lot. I know... But we don't have time for that, or we're both going to wind up dead if we don't get out of here soon and I'm way to young to die dude!"

Skipper's face fell at that, and I knew I had hit a sensitive spot.. But I didn't know the reason behind it. I guess I knew I probably shouldn't, but my natural curiosity wouldn't allow me not to ask him about it.

I gave him a look and he seemed to read my thoughts.

"Dying...doesn't seem so bad..."

Hmm... Guess I didn't need to ask after all.

I noted Skipper's voice seemed grave and meaningless... So different from the brave, overly confidant penguin I had met back at the zoo. It was almost as if Volcom had ripped the life right out of him...

My eyes widened a bit at his statement.

"Well that's....morbid."

I said flatly.

Skipper looked up at me, his eyes filled with a pain I wasn't sure I had ever seen before. It was the kind that you somehow wished you could take from him....or at least help carry his burden, but you knew no-matter how hard you wanted, you couldn't...

It took me a moment or so to realize I couldn't even remember the last time I had even felt feelings like this... I'm pretty sure that's just because I was living with Volcom. I can't imagine how life with that weasel could have a positive effect on anyone.

"If everything's taken from you...what is there to live for? Your buddy Volcom probably has friends who have already...."

Skipper couldn't finish, but even if he could have, I wouldn't have let him.

"Hey...don't talk like that. Yes, Volcom has friends, but your girlfriends smart... She seems pretty independent. She'll be fine. So will your friends. Stop worrying so much, okay? And start looking at the glass...half full."

I grinned a little as I waved my hand through the air. A bright pink motor scooter appeared a few feet in front of us.

I smirked as Skipper's mouth dropped to the ground.

"What? Now it's against the law for a girl like me to like pink? Sheesh...stereotypes."


	10. Chapter 10: Dirty Little Secret

_Hey, guys! I am SOOO sorry it's taken me this long to get this chapter out! this one isn't revised either, but it, as well as the others, will be soon. :) Thank you SO much reviewers! You guys rock! I hope you like this one, as I'm a little nervous about posting it... author's paranoia I guess... Please tell me what you think! =)_

* * *

_If you knew how lonely my life has been  
And how long I've been so alone  
And if you knew how I wanted someone to come along  
And change my life the way you've done,_

_It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me  
It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from._

_~Edwina Hayes._

_

* * *

  
_

Rita finished dressing his wounds, grabbed Skipper's other flipper, and proceeded to pull him up. She could tell he was weak, because the moment he stood, the penguin almost lost consciousness.

Before Skipper could hit the ground however, the young lemur raced behind him to catch his fall.

"Woah... That didn't feel good..."

Skipper murmured, placing a weary flipper to his aching forehead. Rita guessed he was too disoriented to reply to her earlier comment about the scooter, or she was sure he would have come up with some sort of retort.

Little had she known the real reason he never replied was because Skipper did not want to admit that he actually _liked_ the color pink and that his car back at the zoo, used to be the same color before he and his team repainted it black with fiery flames on the sides, when King Julien accused the car of being 'baby-ish.'

Skipper shook his head, took another glance at the pink motorized scooter that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere with just a simple wave of Rita's paw, racking his brain of how such a thing were even possible. What kind of bizarre tricks was this lemur holding up her sleeve?

Rita simply helped him stand upright and placed his flipper around her shoulders, allowing him to use her as a source of balance. She carefully helped him over to the scooter.

"Okay, now I'm going to let go... Hold onto the seat for balance, okay? I'll be right back."

She instructed with a perky smile... a little too perky, for Skipper's liking, especially with the way he was currently feeling. Rita had reassured him that the dizzy feeling would soon go away, and that it was merely from the amount of blood he had lost, but he was beginning to have his doubts.

He gave her a skeptical look, his usual paranoia finally kicking in.

"No funny business..."

Skipper snapped, though Rita merely brushed it off, the grin never leaving her face.

"Relax... Don't you think if I really wanted to kill you, I would have done it already?"

He opened his beak to reply, though closed it when he was unable to think of a retort.

"Exactly."

Rita's grin only widened.

Skipper shot her a glare of suspicion, though he had to admit she was right so far... She had, had plenty of opportunity's to kill him, and instead, had done the exact opposite. He had to keep reminding himself that Rita was the vary reason he was alive. _Although she could have interior motives for that..._

His normal paranoia whispered, always keeping him on guard.

"You could need me alive for whatever sick and twisted reason your little criminal mind can come up with...."

Skipper said slowly, though even he doubted that it was true.

Rita smirked, amused at his constant paranoia.

"Oh yeah, let me tell ya... I'm really only keeping you live so I can lurer you into my evil lair and use you to experiment on, while I try to come up with a cure for the common cold..."

She rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"Vary funny..."

Skipper murmured, obviously annoyed that she had made light of his careful reasoning.

Satisfied with this reply, Rita laughed a little, walked closer to the wall, and pressed her paw to the same brick that Volcom had minutes earlier. Several bricks began disappearing at once to reveal the eventual hidden metal door that hid itself within the wall.

She clutched the nob and turned. The door opened slowly with an eerie creak.

"This door leads to the torcher chamber Volcom was going to take you if I hadn't of showed up and saved your tail. He was gonna use it to pump information out of ya. It also leads to an escape route that should take us right behind the lemur exhibit of the zoo...although. I could be wrong..."

Rita shrugged, turned to Skipper.

"You ready?"

Skipper looked slightly nervous at first, though he tried to cover it up by painting an annoyed expression on his face.

"On that thing? Is it even safe?"

Rita rolled her eyes, still wearing a smile.

"Pfft... Of course it's safe! Why wouldn't it be? Ya ready now?"

She asked, anxious to leave.

"Of course I'm ready... This is no different from anything else I've dealt with in my lifetime."

Skipper replied with his flippers still crossed.

The lemur arched a disbelieving eyebrow, and gave him a blank stare.

"Okay...maybe it's a _little_ different...still, nothing I can't handle."

Skipper said, crossing his flippers, he shot her a glare.

"Huh... We'll see about that."

Rita muttered under her breath. It was not meant as a threat, but she knew he would most likely take it as one, so she thought it better not to let him hear.

"What was that?"

She looked up to see he was giving her a look.

"Err, nothing! I said... Well then it's time to rock and roll!"

Rita laughed nervously, and hopped onto the black seat of the scooter moment's after Skipper had moved out of the way. He used the wall to balance himself.

"What--"

"Come on! We've already lost enough time, and I really don't want to become Volcom's lunch."

Rita said hastily, before he could protest, grabbed his flipper, and pulled him onto the seat, behind her.

"Hold on tight."

She instructed, and once he had rapped his flippers around her waist, Rita turned the handle of the scooter (which Skipper guessed had to be the gas) and they were off. The wheels screamed against the pavement, leaving black tire tracks on the ground that was now long gone to Skipper and Rita.

* * *

Back in the Central Park Zoo, unknowingly abandoning his friends deep below him in the dark watery depths of the sewer, Rico lie sound asleep in his bunk. A loud sound off of some sort of horn startled him out of sweet slumber, and he jolted awake with a scream, tumbling out of his bunk, the bulky penguin collided with the harsh pavement floors of the Penguin's HQ, and moaned in compliant.

"Rise and shine troops! We have to be up bright and early, for training exercises."

The annoyingly strict voice of General Mina reached his ears, and Rico let out a grunt. He glanced at the digital clock on the table that read '6:00 A.M.', and let out a yawn... Remembering it was Saturday. Skipper had always let them sleep in on weekends before, so it was hard to remember General Mina's new rule that they must get up _every_ day at the same designated time.

"Troops....? Rico! I demand to know where the others are!"

Rico pushed himself off the floor just in time to see General Mina marching towards him with a disapproving glare plastered on her face.

He spotted the 3 empty bunks, and looked around the room, his eyes frantically searching for the 3 familiar faces of his friends. After several failed attempts of scooping out the HQ to find them, Rico finally returned to General Mina, shook his head, and shrugged in defeat, showing he had no idea where they could be.

"What do you mean you can't find them? Unless.... They've been captured."

An eerie grin spread across her face, but it only lasted for a few quick seconds before her face returned to it's usual state...stone cold.

"Well... We'll just have to find them, now won't we?"

Rico took a few steps backwards, eyed her oddly.

"Uh huh..." He nodded, heading for the ladder of the HQ.

"Oh...that won't be necessary... We can just take the secret door out."

General Mina walked to the huge metal door to the right, turned the knob, and pushed it open.

"After you, soldier."

He hesitantly followed, though no one could have foretold the events that would happen next.

* * *

"You sure you know where your going?!"

Skipper yelled above the motor of the scooter. It proved to be a difficult task to hold onto the little lemur to prevent from falling off, because she was so...tiny. He was afraid if he held on too tightly, she would break, and if he loosened his grip, he feared he would fall.

"I think it's this way!"

Rita replied, though her tone seemed uncharacteristically frantic. Skipper noticed she kept glancing behind, as if she feared she were being followed.

"What's the matter, lemur? Someone...following us?"

He asked, glancing behind to take a look for himself.

"I wouldn't doubt it...Volcom has this whole placed lined with inside agents."

"Agents...?"

"Dogs. Huge...scary...rottweilers. One of em' tried to bite my tail off once when I 'disobeyed' one of Volcom's orders! They're kinda like his 'body guards' well...sorta..."

"So you mean to say that if Volcom, or one of his goons, catches you helping me...he'll kill you too?"

Skipper couldn't help but ask.

"Nah, death would be the easy way out...it'll be something worse...much worse. Trust me, Volcom and his posse are nothin' you wanna mess with, but it doesn't matter, because I don't plan on finding out."

Rita took a sharp turn.

"Hold on!"

She yelled. For a few moments, to Skipper, the scooter seemed inches away from the ground as the vehicle veered to the left, and then balanced itself out once again when they were back on a straight path.

"Careful!"

Skipper barked, held on a little tighter than before on instinct.

He felt something suddenly collide with his head, and several things happened at once. Skipper heard the wheels of the tires screech against the pavement once again, and the next thing he remembered was that he and Rita were suddenly flying through the air.

He grabbed the lemur while still in the air as the scooter hit the brick wall and erupted into a small explosion. It was enough to throw them back a good few feet, and into the opposite wall, but not enough to cause any serious injuries other than a few cuts, bruises, or minor burns.

Skipper prepared himself for the impact he knew he would soon meet, shielded Rita with his flippers, and held her close to his chest. It finally accrued when a sharp pain pierced through his back, knocking him unconscious only for a few short moments before he opened his eyes, coughed a little from the smoke that now cluttered the air from the flames of the explosion.

He looked down at the young lemur still lying in his flippers...unconscious. Rita seemed...fragile, and for a reason Skipper was not sure he even understood himself, he felt an unusually strong need to protect the young lemur, almost on instinct.

He had only felt this sort of feeling with one other, and that was Private... he was protective of all of his team mates, but Private was the youngest out of the three, and he had always held a special place in Skipper's heart.

"Sk-Skipper...?"

The sound of Rita's groggy, disoriented voice broke his mind out of thought. He watched her groan a little as her eyes fluttered open, fought to regain focus on Skipper's face.

"It's okay, little lemur...I'm here."

Rita looked up into his crystal eyes and for the first time in her short lifetime (that she could remember) she actually felt...safe. A feeling she had lost faith in long ago.

After all Rita had done for him, it was the least Skipper could do to offer a bit of comfort to a kid who he didn't guess had seen much affection of any kind, probably in years, and had risked her life to save him more than once.

Finally putting his paranoia to rest, for now at least, Skipper decided that it was safe to assume that this lemur did not intend to do anything that would harm him, even though many other's most likely would have told him that the fact should have been safe to assume a long time ago.

"Well, well Skipper.... We meet again."

An all too familiar voice said in a sickeningly sweet tone... It was one Skipper had come to recognize anywhere, and one he had hoped at a time, that he would never hear again. He looked up to sent a glare of daggers into his nemesis eyes.

"I did what you said, what more do you want?!"

Skipper almost screamed, his breathing ragged and heavy. Rita glanced up at him, listening carefully to the tone of his voice. It seemed desperate... exasperated... two quality's that seemed completely out of his character.

"Don't you know that's not enough, Skipper? It will _never_ be enough..."

A slender penguin around Skipper's own age stepped into the light, and Rita's eyes widened a bit. She had heard rumors about General Mina from Volcom and his clan, though she had never actually met her in person. Now that she had gotten the chance, she wished she hadn't.

"Mina....you know the reasons why I did what I did... I had no other choice! Don't you think this gotten a little out of hand?!"

Skipper yelled as Mina took a few steps forward.

"Oh, Skipper... Your more of a fool than I thought... Still trying to deny what you know is true because of the guilt that eats away at your soul every night when you try to sleep."

Mina's voice remained eerily calm. She stepped to the side to reveal a motionless penguin lying on the pavement, though it was difficult to tell if he were merely unconscious or.....

Skipper suddenly felt sick to his stomach as he realized, to his utter horror, who it was....

"Rico!"

A broken cry pierced the leader's beak, and tears immediately flooded his eyes. All the shame Skipper had previously felt seemed to have vanished, even his pride no longer prevented the stream of water that had began to fall down his face.

Rita stirred uneasily in Skipper's lap, and he pulled her closer. The action was both one of protection, as well as a need for some kind of console after all he'd been through.

Mina seemed to notice this, and an evil grin spread across her face.

"Hmm.... It seems we might have a traitor in our mist. What would your father think of this, Rita?"

Fear seemed to clutch Rita's heart at once, though she chose to hide it by simply letting anger replace the terror in her eyes, and sent Mina a death glare.

"Volcom...is_** not**_ my father."

She growled out with as much fiery venom in her tone as possible.

Mina only smirked in response, and returned her attention to Skipper.

"Quit a feisty little thing, isn't she? Volcom never could figure out what to do with her either, which is where the beatings began...and in the mornings, he would train her...for the mission she would someday help us complete....you see without her, the entire thing could be compromised..."

Skipper watched the penguin carefully as she walked over to Rico's still form.

"And we can't let that happen....can we, _bro?"_

A grin of pure evil flashed onto Mina's face, and she gave Rico a kick. The bulky penguin rolled onto his back without protest, his chest covered in crimson. If at all possible, all the color would have drained from Skipper's face. He covered his beak to prevent the blood curdling scream that longed to emit from his beak, and the awful feeling of vile that welled within his throat.

"And we absolutely can _not_ have any...access _protection_ just...wandering about."

Rita gained full consciousness, and caught site of the gory site lying just feet away... She had seen many things in her young lifetime, some unimaginable events that, in Rita's opinion at least, should belong in a horror movie and should stay there, and other's not even the bravest of soldiers would want to witness... Nevertheless, there was something about the heartache in Skipper's haunted eyes that made a gasp slip out of her mouth.

Mina took a few steps forward, smirked at the horrified expression that seemed to be imprinted on his face... It was hard for Rita to mentally determine weather Skipper would ever be the same after the death of his friend. She glared at Mina, bitterness stung her eyes...there was a mixture of emotions hidden in them, though the sting of a secret betrayal seemed to be the strongest.

"You monster!"

Rita spat out. Skipper noticed she was close to tears, though it was hard for him to even control his own... How could he possibly even begin to fathom the thought that one of his teammates... One of his closest friends...was gone forever, and he could do nothing to bring him back?

"Rita, Rita, Rita..... Did you honestly think it would be that easy... to just....escape?And Skipper... Are you really so foolish as to actually believe that you would get away with what you've _done?_"

Rita leaped out of Skipper's grip at that, and marched up to stand close to Mina's face, though she only came up to her chest. The lemur glared up at the tall penguin with fire in her eyes. Skipper stared after her, fearing for Rita's life... _ Is she nuts?!_

He readied himself to jump into action if need be. Whatever the lemur had done to him earlier seemed to be working it's magic because he could already feel the pain of his wounds slowly fading.

"_What_ has he done _General_ Mina?!"

Rita mocked, her voice had risen to a bitter scream.

"Volcom always talks about all of the crime's he's done, of...of what a terrible criminal he is, and how he needs to die, but why?! Tell me the reason!"

She demanded, breathing heavily. Rita stared into Mina's eyes to show she was no longer afraid. She had replaced the fear with only a mixture of hatred and anger...

"Didn't Volcom already tell you? For one, he _killed your family..._"

Mina replied, her tone like poison.

"Then why hasn't he tried to kill _me?_"

Rita asked, determine to find answers. Something to add even one more piece to the puzzle.

"It's because of your powers, Rita...he's only trying to get on your good side to save his own skin."

Rita eyed her carefully, glanced back at Skipper, who caught her gaze.... Skipper noted there was so much pain in her eyes...so much mystery... and yet, through it all, she looked...strong. He quickly pushed himself off of the ground with some difficulty, prepared himself for the pain.. Though it wasn't nearly as bad as he thought.

"Don't listen to her Rita...it's not what you think!"

Skipper yelled, pleading her to believe him.

"I would zip your beak real quick if I were you, bro...."

Mina growled, sending him a death glare.

"No... Let him speak."

Rita turned around to look at Skipper... The simple action could have proved to be the lemurs grave demise. Mina pulled out an object she seemed to be holding behind her back the entire time, and would have brought it up to the lemurs neck if Rita had not whipped around like she did, and kicked the penguin in the stomach.

Mina let out a gasp, clutched her stomach, and stumbled backwards. A good sized pocket knife fell to the ground, though before she could obtain it once again, Rita moved quickly to snatch it out of her reach.

"_Don't _even go there with me, sister."

Rita said in a deadly tone, twirled the weapon between her fingers, threw it up in the air, only to catch it again before it could hit the ground.

She smirked a little, walked to stand by Skipper with the weapon still in hand, though moved to his side so she could keep a good eye on Mina.

"Hoover dam, kid! Where'd you learn a move like that at your age?!"

Skipper exclaimed, shot her a look, both awe-stricken as well as confused.

Rita only grinned, while Mina scowled and sent her a glare.

"I think it's about time the tables finally turn...."

* * *

Marlene and the other's felt like they had been walking for hours... Maurice had already complained several times that his feet were hurting, and Kowalski, who walked on his left, was resisting the urge to slap him. Private stayed close to Marlene. After he had learned the news of their leader's untimely death, he had gone gravely quiet.... his thoughts far from where he was.

No one could be sure exactly where his mind had taken him, or the images he saw that flashed upon his mental screen, though everyone guessed it was memories of Skipper, and the recent events that his young mind was still struggling to fully comprehend.

Marlene walked a little behind Kowalski, her arm slung around Private, hoping to bring the young penguin some sort of console. Nonetheless, she knew, like her own grief, nothing could really be said or done to ease the pain of Skipper's absence...

Still, there was always revenge... Revenge on the cruel murderer who stole her lover away... Yes, Marlene would get her revenge on the dark figure, whoever it may be, that drug Skipper away, and bring the heartless criminal to justice. She had made it her own personal goal to find him and make him pay...

Suddenly though, a loud bang sounded from somewhere underground and the yelp of what Kowalski reasoned could have been a dog, or a fox... It was hard to tell.

The tall penguin was the first to step in front of the group and take a fighting stance. Skipper had put him in charge if anything ever happened to him, though Kowalski had fooled himself into believing it never would... He longed to believe Skipper would live forever... Oh, if only he had found the fountain of youth!

Kowalski guessed it wouldn't have helped him much now that he thought of it, even if he had found it, youth had little to do with what had actually accrued. Kowalski mentally cursed himself... Somehow, it still seemed his fault.

A shadow moved from somewhere within the darkness... He could not make out who the figure was at first glance, but he did make out that it was some sort of small animal that walked on fours, and it seemed to be limping.

Private clung to Marlene, who grabbed onto Maurice's arm, who bore a worried expression and clutched the otter's arm in return.

"Show yourself!"

Kowalski yelled, trying to keep his voice steady to calm the nervous feeling that tightened his chest.

"Okay, we might want to prepare for the worst..."

He muttered to the other's, who simply gave him a look.. The fear evident in their eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm a friend!"

A voice yelled that seemed out of breath. Moments late, out from the shadows, stepped neither a fox or a dog, but a small wolf. He was grey in color, his chest, once stainless white, was now covered in a light shade of red, and his front left fore paw, Kowalski noticed, seemed to have received a nasty cut because in his tracks was a trail of blood.

"Who-Who are you?" Private asked frightfully.

While the other's anxiously awaited the reply, Kowalski made sure to keep a good eye on the stranger. Usually he would have left that job up to Skipper, but since the leader was not there... the responsibility left behind weighed heavily upon Kowalski's shoulders.

"My name is Hiro... Let's just say I'm a friend....a friend of Ski...Skippers." The wolf panted out.

Marlene took the time to notice the many scars up and down his back... Most were covered by a thick layer of grey fur, though most were still visible, if only vaguely. She also noticed that apart of his left ear was missing, as if something had bitten it off once upon a time.

Kowalski noted the wolf stood no taller than a large fox, which was more than a little unusual for the size of an adult male wolf, though he figured any unnecessary questions could wait until later.

At the mention of Skipper's name, everyone looked at the floor... Marlene and Private fought back tears, while Maurice simply kept his gaze focused on his feet.

Kowalski was the first to gather the guts to speak.

He cleared his throat and brought his gaze to meet the wolf's deep amber eyes.

"I'm sorry but Skipper....."

"Needs our help. I know what you think, but not everything is as it seems."

He said, repeating Kowalski's own words without realizing it.

Instant;y, everyones attention averted to Hiro, giving him their full focus.

"There may be hope for your friend, and my soldier, yet..."

* * *

_Just in case things were a little fuzzy in this chapter, the song at the beginning of the chapter is meant to better describe Skipper and Rita's developing reletionship, and no, there are no romanticness going on there...haha. Also, the song, **Carry you home,** is inspired and borrowed from the movie **My Sister's Keeper.** if anyone hasn't seen it, I highly reccomend it, but be prepared to cry! _


	11. Chapter 11: Nice, Naive and Beautiful

_Hey guys! Again, sorry for the wait....I've been super busy...and so has my beta reta so once again, please try to bear with us as the revised ones will be here shortly. :) To my reveiwers.... you guys are absolutely amazing!!! Thank you so much! ^_^I hope you enjoy..._

_

* * *

  
_

_She's only known heartache and pain  
But she's never known pain like this  
She stands alone defending her name  
When all that she's done is be who she is  
Well is it so wrong to be who we are  
When all she's done is fail._

_Cold is the throne of her hardened heart  
No one has seen the softest part  
Day after night she holds an ache  
And won't budge to show this secret place  
Well is it so wrong to hang on to hurt?_

_Maybe she could set it free._

_

* * *

  
_

Rita stepped in front of Skipper, held the knife out in front of her... She only hoped Mina was smart.

"I'm really not in the mood to do this the hard way. And frankly, I just don't want to see another dead body..."

She paused, seemed to think it over for a minute before replying.

"But it is durable, so don't push me... now... What is the _true_ story?"

Mina gulped, seeming intimated for only a few brief moments, before turning her piercing glare upon Rita once more.

"Volcom was right. You are good..._.too_ good.... Oh, he won't be happy about this _**at all**_...your going to receive a punishment you may not survive little soldier!"

She yelled, angrily crossed her flippers, though she glared passed Rita, at Skipper, who simply returned the glare.

"Soldier? What does that even mean... ?Oh! I know... you mean _slave."_

Rita spat out the last word, throwing back the same deadly poison Mina used to break her.

The penguin scowled.

"You always were a rebel. No matter... I may not be as_ 'gifted'_ as you are...but I have a few tricks pulled up my sleeve, myself...."

Mina grinned. An certain eerie mischief developed in her eyes, and she slowly walked closer to the two, eying Skipper. Rita watched her carefully, she kept her guard on. Skipper did the same. Nevertheless, despite their efforts, they were too late...

Mina had already threw a needle that was attached to a bottle filled with some sort of liquid. It had appeared seemingly out of thin air into her flipper, and flew through the air at speed that many would not think possible.

Rita whipped around in an attempt to catch it, though despite her desperate efforts to prevent the act from happening, the needle had already collided with Skipper's flipper. An ear piercing scream erupted from his beak as Mina's manic cackling echoed off the walls of the sewer. In this moment, one little lemur decided she had finally enough... one brave lemur rushed forward with the knife clutched tightly within her paws.

Rita leaped onto Mina's back when she was facing the opposite direction, climbed onto her shoulders, and held the knife inches away from the penguin's neck.

"I guess you chose the hard way... What have you done to him?!"

Rita screamed, pressed the blade a little closer. It was enough to draw the slightest amount of blood, but not enough to cause any real damage.

"Tell me!"

She screamed, finding that her own voice had grown desperate.

Mina finally calmed her insane laughter down to a light chuckle.

"You-You don't know? Wow, Rita, I thought you were smarter than that, seeing as...your Volcom's kid and all."

If at all possible, Rita's anger would have grown. She glanced behind at the sound of a strangled cry that could have vary well been her own name... Skipper caught her gaze one last time before his body gave into the liquid's deadly poison, and collapsed on the ground with a heart wrenching thud, next to Rico.

"You really are a monster..."

Rita whispered bitterly.

"What can I say cadet? He needed to pay...."

Mina replied casually, almost with a drunken laugh.

Rita released her, only to give her a harsh shove. She stared at the crazy bird in disbelief.

"Ya know... I really shouldn't be surprised."

Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, though she did a good job at keeping her emotions in tact. As usual, she would remain strong.

Rita took a few steps forward. She raised the knife... thought it stopped, inches away from the fresh wound on Mina's neck, just above a vital vain... If Rita sliced that, the penguin was done for.

"And what do you think your going to do to me, Rita? Face it! I-It's over....you lost. As usual..."

A grin spread across her face, and she leaned her head back to let out another manic fit of laughter.

Rita released her once again.

"I don't have have time for this...your not even worth it."

The lemur turned and ran to Skipper, while Mina simply fell to the ground.... the sound of her growing laughter seemed to mock Rita as she knelt beside him. She made a motion with her paw and a wet cloth appeared.

Rita acted quickly, and used it to gently dab his forehead. She made another hand motion and a bottle similar to the one Mina had thrown appeared in her paw, only this one had a cap that served as a cover instead of a needle.

"Come on Skippy, ya gotta' wake up!"

She yelled, squeezed the rag until a drizzle of cool water fell onto his face.

Skipper's eyes slowly opened, his vision faded in and out as his mind battled to regain conscienceless. He mumbled something inaudible, and let out a painful moan.

"Listen to me... It's going to be okay, but you have to drink this."

Rita reassured him. She quickly tore the cap from the bottle and threw it in a random direction, gently placed her paw behind his head, and tilted it up to prevent him from choking. It was odd to say the least that a lemur of her age would have such experience in the medical field, but again, as Skipper had learned, Rita was no ordinary lemur. She had been through more than he knew, seen things that no child of her age should ever have to see.

Skipper struggled to open his break, though could only manage slightly. It was just enough for Rita to be able to poor the right amount of clear liquid into his mouth.

She re-capped the bottle after she was sure he had swallowed and set it down on the ground beside them, forgetting the item for the moment.

"This should act as an antidote for whatever poison Mina shot into your body."

Rita said, bitterly glaring at Mina, who had stopped laughing and was presently sitting with her back against the opposing wall, a grin of mischief upon her face.

Skipper was not able to gather enough strength to form words just yet, so he settled on giving her a grateful nod.

"Wow Rita... You amaze me. You know that?"

Mina said in a voice that made Rita long to whip around and punch her... it was the same feeling Marlene had developed in their first meeting, back at the HQ. The lemur resisted the urge however, and instead, settled on gritting her teeth.

"Your really trying to be the hero this time...aren't you?"

Rita ignored her, trying to keep her main focus on Skipper.

"No...don't close your eyes... Skippy, you have to stay awake!"

She pleaded, shook the penguin gently.

Skipper's eyes fluttered open, and then closed again several times, until finally he found his voice and shakily took Rita's hand into his flipper.

"I'm so-sorry Rita... I know what your trying to do...but I think maybe it's time... to let go. ..retreat...while you still can."

The lemur shook her head, her mind refused to believe the words coming out of his break were true.

"No... no! Okay, I did not... _you_ didn't come this far, go through_ this much, _to just give up! Now you said you were in the military... Well army men don't just _give up_ okay? They hold on! No-matter the cost..."

She tried to convince him, struggling to keep her voice steady.

"Yes Rita.... let go. _Give up..._for once in your pathetic little life. Except that you _can't do anything about it."_

Rita could hear Mina's taunting voice sneer from behind. She tried to block the words out of her mind.

She shook her head, lifted Skipper's chin, and forced him to look into her eyes.

"I know your not a quitter Skipper... You weren't when it came to Marlene, or to me... Now it's time for you to fight for yourself! You can win this thing Skippy, I know you can! There are so many people that love you, you can't leave them... your a fighter...remember that!"

That fateful night, some would say early morning, Rita's words, venerable and filled with passion and fear, would imprint in Skipper's mind for the rest of his life...

_Your a fighter... remember that!_

The words seemed to echo in his own sub conscience over and over again... They gave him the courage to force open his eyes and with all the strength he had left within his frail and weakened form, Skipper pushed himself off the ground, his flipper never let go of Rita's hand. She helped him stand... she reminded him of all the reasons he _must_ fight...

"What about your little.. army people friends? Even_ I _could see how much they care about you... they would be lost without you and every one of them knows that! I saw the look on that otters face when they took you away from her... I was there, Skipper! _Me _Rita! The one has _never _known what that's like..they need you! I was there and I saw it all... Now fight!"

Her voice seemed to be growing fainter now... He could feel himself begin to fall..

Was this really the end?

_Where is Rita.... Oh, there she is... Why can't I hear her anymore?_

Skipper could see tears in her eyes now... they fell down like heavy rain drops and landed on his face, as if, even they pleaded him to stay. Though her voice was not the only thing that was fading... Skipper's surroundings, and Rita's frantic face, too was beginning to slowly grow distant.

* * *

"Wait a second...you mean Ski-Skipper...could still be alive?"

Private finally asked. It was the first time the leader's name had been spoken since Marlene had relayed the news of the tragic events of Skipper's seemingly untimely death. The silence that hung in the air was awkward to say the least, and held a heavy sense of grief and strife.

Everyone looked at Hiro... Their last and only hope rested simply on whatever words would form out of his mouth.

The wolf met their gaze with a look of sympathy and a deep sorrow of his own.

"I don't want to say too much...but it's possible. The moment my troops informed me that Skipper was in trouble, we were on our way within minutes. Nothing beats the luxury of todays technology."

He laughed a little, an attempt to lighten the mood if only slightly.

"But how did you know he was in trouble?"

Kowalski asked, Skipper's natural paranoia seemed to have rubbed off on him.

"You know... the story is actually quit bizarre. Our team received a call from an unidentified source that Skipper had been abducted by Volcom... A deadly weasel who is in alliance with a nasty penguin who calls herself General Mina..."

Hiro started to explain, before Marlene cut in.

"Woah, woah hold up a sec... General Mina?" The vary mention of her name seemed to make Marlene's blood begin to boil.

"But... She's back at the HQ with Rico."

Private said, instantly fearing for his friends life. Judging from the looks he received from the other's, it was safe to say that even Maurice felt uneasy.

Hiro looked at them with nothing short of sympathy. It was such a look that if you were staring into his eyes you would have known that he knew something you didn't, but did not have the heart to speak the words aloud.

"For now, let's just focus on getting to Skipper. If he is alive, the faster we get to him, the more of a chance he will have at survival."

He said, watched for their reaction. No one seemed to have any objection, in fact, it was the exact opposite. For the moment, they did not notice the sudden change of subject, for everyone's fear for Skipper's life seemed to overthrow any other thoughts.

"If Skipper's alive, then there's no ifs, ins, or buts about it... we're going to find him."

Marlene said with a determination in her eyes that was fueled by a mixture of emotions, the strongest, longing and grief.

"Then there's no time to waste."

Hiro said, and the other's began to follow him down another tunnel of the sewer. Marlene ran up ahead to walk by Hiro. There were so many questions she had been longing to ask him from the moment he introduced himself as a friend of Skippers. Her original intent was to get her mind off the burning ache in her heart, though she soon realized, try as she may, she would never be able to get Skipper from her mind.

Private ran up to stand on the otter's right, almost as if he were afraid to leave her side. Kowalski guessed it was because Marlene was a gentle figure that Private could look up too, and seek comfort from in the bitter darkness of Skipper's absence. Kowalski was relieved that Private could find some sort of console, some kind of way to cope in such an uncertain time.

Kowalski himself brought up the back, along with Maurice. The two walked side by side, walking in silence... both lost in a world of thought.

"So...how do you and Skipper...know each other?"

Marlene asked Hiro not even 10 minutes later, even though she had a pretty good guess it had something to do with the army judging from the wolfs earlier statement...

soldier_?_

_What does he mean? Skipper must be his soldier, but is this...could this be....?_

"Well I guess you could say I'm sort of like Skipper's...well, Skipper."

The wolf replied with a small laugh.

_I knew it! _Marlene's mind mentally yelled.

"I was his General when he first joined the military.... it's a pity about his sister though. Mina has a good heart deep down, but unfortunately, pain and tragedy has a way of darkening the heart, and blinding a penguin to the freeing truths of an events real actions."

At this, both Marlene and Privates eyes widened to saucers.

"Wait... Lemme get this straight... _Mina..._is...Skipper's sister?!"

Marlene exclaimed, voicing Privates thoughts. Even Maurice and Kowalski listened in at that.

"But...but....he never mentioned anything like that to us..."

Private said, a little saddened that his leader had not been honest with the team, when he had always taught them the opposite.

Kowalski on the other hand, was more concerned of the reason he did not want to tell them.

Marlene knew most likely, it was not her place to address the subject any farther, but her curiosity was known for getting the best of her. It was also the source of a lot of unneeded trouble. Nevertheless, she couldn't resist.

"How come?"

She asked, unable to stand the suspense any longer.

* * *

**~~~~~~~~~Rita's POV~~~~~~~~~**

"Skipper!"

I screamed out his name, my hands kept a gentle grip on his shoulders even as he fell back down to the ground. I fell at his side, patted his cheeks lightly in an attempt to keep him stable.

_Oh, come on... You have to hold on! You can't do this to them, you can't leave them..._

"You can't leave me!"

_What?! Did I just say that out loud? Oh, no... no, no, no. no... Rita, your getting in way to deep here! The goal was to help him to he could return to_ his_ family... this isn't for your gain! You don't have a family, and you _never_ will... So just get that through your stupid pathetic little head!_

"Skipper, Skipper! Don't leave me.... Pathetic. Rita...I'm truly ashamed of you."

I could hear Mina's cruel snake-like voice taunting me...again. Why can't she just give it a rest already?

_Look what you did, you idiot! You just fed her more fuel to add to the flame...the flame of taunts! _

I mentally cursed myself, watched Skipper's eyes open and close to keep my mind off of...arguing with myself, or it.....me? Whatever. My mind is not what I need to be focusing on at the moment. It's Skipper whose life is in danger here! _Focus, Rita... _

While I was busy....arguing with myself, I hadn't even noticed that Skipper's flipper had somehow managed to reach my face and wipe away a few fallen tears.

_Tears?_ _Wait a second...I'm...._crying?_ Have I really allowed myself to get this close to someone?! I never knew my father.....Okay, my _real_ father... Volcom was nowhere near what a fatherly figure should be... Not that I would know... But I'm pretty sure it's nothing like _that,_ so I had nothing really to compare the bizarre feelings that stirred somewhere inside me._

"Get up Skipper! Please? Try....for me?"

_Please don't die! Please...._

"They need you!"

_Yes, _they_ need you!_

"And I'm not letting you give up!"

I grabbed his flippers and proceeded to help him stand.

"It's hopeless Rita! All your efforts are going to be in vain, and then you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to laugh...as he takes his last breath."

Right as Mina had said it, another horrible fit of laughter erupted from her whacked-out beak that sent old familiar shivers down my spine. They were similar to the ones I get whenever Volcom is around. Huh... Strange.

Skipper staggered a little as I struggled to keep him upright.

"Don't listen to her Skipper, just focus on winning the battle! Your _**not**_ going to die."

I said, staring into his deep blue...broken eyes.

"Ri-Rita...why...why are you even doing this?"

Skipper asked, his voice slurred and weak. He stumbled and would have fallen if I had not been there to hold him up.

"Why not just....sa-save yourself?"

He looked up at me, and I could tell he was on the verge of giving up.

My own eyes filled with unwanted tears...again. Looking at his face broke my heart, it broke because I knew he didn't deserve this. Of all of the animals in this world, why must the good be the ones who seem to suffer the worst? It doesn't seem fair.

"It's be-because...I know what it's like...to feel pain."

I replied, struggling to keep my own voice steady.

_It's because I know what it like to feel the cold sting of loneliness, what it's like to cry yourself to sleep at night only wishing someone was there, to feel like you don't have a friend in the world. I know what it's like, and how bad it hurts....to lose the only one who's ever cared about you._

Skipper didn't respond this time. Maybe it was too much for him...? I don't know, but it didn't matter because the look in his crystal eyes said all.

"You'd better get a running start while you still can little Rita, because before long, you won't have the chance...besides, Volcom always loves a good chase. Why not humor him?"

I could hear Rita's nasty voice geer from behind us. I glanced behind to see her stand up and smirk.

"Well this is one race Volcom is _not_ going to win...and neither are you."

I spat out through gritted teeth, before turning back to Skipper. Talking to Mina would only be a waste of valuable time.

"Listen to me okay? Your going to be okay....I-I promise."

I knew I had no right to promise Skipper such a thing, and judging from the look on his face I could tell he had his doubts, but I had to say something to bring him hope....

"If you really believe that...then lead the way."

I could tell his voice was filled with obvious doubt, but at least he was going to try, and that's really all I could have asked for.

_This is my time for revenge...my turn to repay him for all he's done. I've watched him destroy too many lives already...It has to end somewhere. Why not today? Why not now? Why should I stand around and watch one more animal's world get torn to shreds, without doing anything to prevent it from happening because of some stupid threats? _

_Well not anymore...._

"Not so fast."

I mentally cursed under my breath. _Volcom...._

"What do you want now, Volcom?"

I asked, glared daggers at him.

_Seriously, what is with this guy?! Can't he give us a break? Of course not... _

"It looks like we have a little traitor in our little family...."

The weasel sneered.

I ignored him for the moment, and slapped Skipper right across the face. I regretted it the moment I saw the pain in his eyes as well as the glare I received in return.. Still, I had to do_ something_ to get him awake, and if slapping him was the only way, then he could thank me later.

"Skipper, _wake up!"_

I screamed. I wasn't exactly sure what kind of poison Mina had shot into him, but I wasn't taking chances... there was still a small possibility that Skipper could slip into a coma if I didn't keep him awake long enough for the medicine to kick in, and...well...if that happened, it wouldn't end well, let's just say that.

"Ow!"

Cried Skipper, reaching up a flipper to rub his sore cheek. There was a gash there, and that is when I realized in my panicky state, I must have slapped him a little too hard because the wound had reopened.

"I'm sorry, but I_ need _to keep you awake!"

I exclaimed, guilt immediately took over my emotions at the look on his face.

"Oh, your right Rita...he does need to be kept awake... we want him alive to watch the show."

I whipped around at the sound of Volcom's eerie voice only to meet his evil smile.

"What show?!"

I demanded, a little too panicky than I should have let on... a million thoughts continued to rush through my head. I returned my gaze to Skipper... I could tell he was trying his hardest to keep his eyes open as I had instructed, but seemed to be having a difficult time accomplishing that goal.

"Let's meet our main attraction...shall we?"

Volcom grinned.

"Skipper, please...."

I begged, buried my face into his chest, and let out a broken sob, unable to take anymore of Volcom's taunts. To my surprise, Skipper's flipper somehow found it's way to my back and began moving in slow steady motions. I sobbed a little harder... I could barely hear him shush me. After all that had happened, I only wanted to disappear...

All my life I had always tried to be so strong... it's not like I ever had a choice. I didn't _choose_ to be this way. When Volcom brought me with him to join his life in the circus, _everyone was on their own after awhile. We were all freaks... Volcom told me my special ability's were a gift...but at times, they seemed more like a curse......_

_******Flashback*******_

_A younger, baby Rita stood at the base of a tall wooden latter that would lead to a thin wired line. The people called it a tight rope, and Volcom had told her that she would be forced to clime the latter, and walk the thin line with only the netting below to rely on to catch her fall. The little lemurs first reaction, like any child, was that of fear... Rita had began to cry when Volcom relayed the news, only to receive a harsh slap across the face._

"Quit your crying! Tears are for wimps and babies... you, Rita, are neither. I'll make sure of it."

_He had told her in a strict tone. When she was unable to do as he asked, the weasel had picked up a large whip the humans normally used for training the larger animals, and gave her 7 lashes across the back._

_When the crying still would not cease, Volcom had taken a knife from a nearby table and drug it across her face in a single diagonal line. The wound ran from her right eye, along her face. After that, he had made her promise not to cry... And the tears did stop._

_The recent memory seemed to flood over Rita in one terrifying wave of sorrow as she stood, trembling, before the wooden latter she knew she must clime. Volcom glared down at her with cold, empty eyes of stone. He gave her a harsh push towards the latter._

_"Go on...show em' what you got! And remember, __**don't cry..."**_

_He gave a sinister wink that sent shivers down the young lemurs spine. Nevertheless, Rita nodded frantically and began her long clime up the latter... she could hear the loud thunderous cheers of the crowd just outside the certain._

_A voice off-stage announced her act and a large red curtain opened. Rita's heart seemed to beat faster with every passing second. She glanced down at Volcom, who eagerly cheered her on.... though it was not the kind of cheer one may think._

_In fact it was one that made Rita only long to turn and flee...though she knew if she did her efforts would be in vain. She simply took a deep breath, said a little prayer under her breath, and cautiously began to walk the tiny line that seemed as though it would break the moment she stepped onto it. Instead, the second her feet hit the thin wire, Rita lost her balance and began to fall..._

_She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the impact in case something were to go wrong.... Though it never came. A simple motion of a paw and two wires shot down from the ceiling attached to a mental bar. Rita immediately clutched onto it, and flipped herself upward, grabbed the wires and continued her act, her heart racing._

_It went on like this for awhile as the crowd would let out a loud boisterous cheer whenever Rita would make something appear and do a few tricks with whatever object she happened to posses, all the while with Volcom at the bottom flashing a huge sinister grin until it was time for him to perform his own act._

_When the day finally ended and all of the animals and people had finished their acts, little Rita would escape Volcom by spending her time with the rejects of the circus...mainly, the mice._

_"I dream of cheese!"_

_One of the mice, a brown one, yelled out with a longing smile as the others finished the re-telling of their own goals...some were noble and just, while other's held utter madness. Rita listened to them all with the same amount of respect. The mice served as some of the few friends she had made in the circus. When it came down to her turn however, she simply hung her head and stared at the dirt._

_"Come on Rita...you must have a dream...a goal of some sort perhaps? Everyone does."_

_Said the brown mouse. If Rita would have looked up, she would have noticed that he gave her a warm smile. Instead, she simply shied away from his gaze and replied in a barely audible tone,_

_"I don't....have one."_

_"Surely you must have a dream, Rita."_

_She whipped around at the sound of a familiar voice.... Rita's face lit up at the site of a small grey fox. He had arrived at the circus a few days ago with a cast on his right fore paw, though he seemed to prefer keeping to himself up until this point. At the site of the approaching stranger, the mice scattered in random directions as a natural reaction of fear. They yelled for Rita to follow, though the lemur seemed curious of this intruder._

_The fox carefully limped over to where she was sitting, gave a single lick to the deep wound that Volcom had left earlier. Rita flinched away, uncertain of the sudden bizarre act of kindness._

_"Ho-How do you know my name?"_

_She stammered fearfully, re-thinking her decision to stay now that she realized how tall he was... at least, compared to her._

_"It is not hard to learn one's name when it is often spoken by other's near bye."_

_He replied in a voice that Rita thought seemed wise._

_She looked at the ground, suddenly a wave of embarrassment washed over her._

_"Sorry..."_

_She murmured, before noticing his leg, and making a hasty decision to change the subject._

_"What happened?"_

_The fox's ears seemed to drop and a distant look entered his eyes of something only he could see._

_"I was attacked... a mission went sour....I was captured, and because of my shortcomings, a dear friend lost the love of his life..."_

_He said, his voice grave and filled with a deep sorrow._

_Rita's face fell into a mixture of horror and sympathy._

_"That's terrible! But you've gotta tell me.... what, exactly, do you mean by...mission? Are you a secret agent?"_

_She asked, once again finding herself a little more curious than she should have been._

_

* * *

  
_

_Cause she's so nice, naive and beautiful,  
Why did she get taken for granted?  
Why did she live in a world so cold?  
He took advantage of the nice, naive and the beautiful._

_~Plumb._

_

* * *

Hey, if anyone who can guess who Rita's mystery fox may be, or which character from another movie who he's based off of, I'll give you cookie! ^_^  
_


	12. Chapter 12: Behind Blue Eyes

_Hey geys! I'm SO sorry for the delay in updating chapters, I'm trying to get them out to you guys as soon as possible. :) Thank you SO much to my reviewers! As always, you guys are AWESOME! I'm kind of nervous to post this chapter, so please tell me how I did. =) Also, the character, Rita's mysterious fox, I realized was SUPER hard to guess, but Porsche101 was really close, soooo cookies for all of you! ^_^_

* * *

_I'm frightened by what I see  
But somehow I know that there's much more to come  
Immobilized by my fear  
And soon to be blinded by tears_

_This truth drives me into madness  
I know I can stop the pain  
If I will it all away  
If I will it all away_.....

_~Evanescence._

* * *

The wolf sighed a little, stopped to stare into Marlene's deep brown eyes.

"You really love him...don't you?"

The otter cocked her her head to the side, gave him a quizzical look.

"How do you..."

"I can see it in your eyes...your love for Skipper. Every time you mention his name..."

He let out a long sigh.

"I suppose it's time to come out of hiding....you deserve to finally know the truth."

Hiro turned suddenly to stand on his hind legs...his face downcast.

"What...?"

Marlene took a few steps back to join Kowalski Private, and Maurice, who had all stopped to turn their full attention on the mysterious wolf they knew so little about.

A bright light came down from somewhere above them and surrounded Hiro in a swirl of bright colors.... Everyone stared on in awed confusion. Private once again latched onto Marlene, who grabbed Kawasaki's flipper while Maurice simply stood there, trying his best to keep his calm exposure. It didn't work.

"Ma-Maybe this is our cue to oh I don't know... get the heck out of here!"

He finally lost it and panicked. Maurice turned to flee, but not before Kowalski grabbed his flipper and pulled him back.

"Keep it together man! We'll run only if we need too, but for now, let's just see how this plays out..."

Maurice struggled in a hopeless effort to escape the tall penguin's firm grip.

"Your crazy man! Get me otta' here!"

Kowalski's thin exposure had proved to be quit deceiving, and he held onto his arms tightly to prevent him from running off. He knew if Maurice did run, with the dangers of the sewer now larking about, he knew the lemurs chances of survival were slim, if not zero percent.

Marlene glanced at him and tears once again sprang to her eyes....it was almost as if the words Kowalski had commanded were taken from Skipper himself. He caught her gaze, pressing his own emotions aside. He knew someone had to stay strong, and the other's would not be able to bear it, so he took on the role himself.

Kowalski placed a flipper on Marlene's shoulder, pulled her and Private closer to him for fear of the worst.

Though the worst never came... Everyone returned their attention to Hiro...

All of the lights had vanished from around him, disappeared into the ceiling. Not even the intellectual Kowalski knew for sure where they had come from or how they had vanished just as quickly as they had came.

"Hiro...?"

Marlene questioned when she saw a small figure lying on the ground... It seemed to be rapped in some sort of brown rob that she recognized from various shows concerning Kung Fu at the penguins house.

"Hiro!"

She yelled, suddenly concerned when he did not respond. Natural instincts kicked in and Marlene's instant compassion for anyone in need. She ran over to him, knelt down by the small animal's side, and placed a paw softly on his side.

_Wait a sec...small? But...I thought he was a wolf....._

The otters eyes widened when she caught site of how small Hiro now appeared... but why? After all, this sort of thing was impossible...right?

"Marlene wait, it could be a trap!"

Private ran after her, which of course in return caused Kowalski to follow suite, dragging the ever protesting Maurice along with him.

Marlene however, simply ignored them for the moment. Instead, her gaze was glued solely to Hiro's still form. Instead of a wolf, he looked, in her opinion, to have the body of a fox who was red in color with small patches of white fur on his face, and his tail... rings of white and red. It reminded Marlene of King Julien's ring-tail.

"Sweet momma' may...."

Kowalski skidded to a stop beside Marlene and gawked at what he saw before him. Private, who had arrived second before him, mimicked the same reaction, as did Maurice.

Suddenly the little animal leaped up with swift movement, and stood on it's hind legs.

Kowalski grabbed Marlene's arm with his free hand, pulled her and the other's several feet back. He racked his brain of the scientific terms of how such an action could be done... So far, he could only determine the animal's species. In the end, he came came to the conclusion that Hiro was not a fox at all... he was instead of course, a red panda.

"My name is not Hiro... Is it Master Shifu, and it is time for me to come out of hiding."

He stated in a solemn tone, one that held some deep mysterious sorrow... Marlene could see this when he looked directly in her eyes.

"Hiding? I don't...understand..."

* * *

"Is is time...for our main attraction!"

Volcom yelled in a loud boisterous voice that made Skipper's head throb even worse than before. He placed a flipper to his aching forehead, and suppressed a wave of nausea. The sudden sound was enough to break Rita out of her memory, and she looked up quickly to find the concerned expression of Skipper, who, seeing she had returned back to reality, tried his best to put his own pain aside.

"Skipper...I'm so sorry..."

_**~~~~Rita's POV~~~~**_

I whispered, used a paw to quickly wipe away the tears that had unwillingly fallen once again.

"Remember what I told you, look alive Rita!"

It was in this moment that I realized I had been lying on his chest, cradled in Skipper's flippers just like.... someone I used to know. It was the first time anyone has ever held me since....

_No, Rita! Don't even think about it...it will only make you cry, and you know what Volcom does to crybaby's! You just better hope he doesn't notice the tear stains on your face... _

"Rita!"

I felt Skipper grasp my shoulders and quickly turn me around... I gasped at the site I was suddenly confronted with. A small stage had suddenly appeared... ah...making things appear. It was a horrible trait that Volcom had unfortunately learned a little about from his life in the circus.

I noticed he would often hangout with a huge snow leopard... he had a strange name, and an even stranger looking face. Well, in my opinion at least. Anyway, this particular snow leopard, like myself, held strange, bizarre ability's that were not normal....

Well, I guess nothing is normal in the circus, so this kind of thing was not uncommon to find in that sort of atmosphere, but there was still something about this snow leopard that seemed....well let's just use the word disturbing for now.

For a time at least, Volcom would rarely let me speak to him in person for whatever twisted reason, but he would tell me all the things that _'Ling' _would teach him, though he made careful effort not to give away too much information when telling me all of his little gloating rants. The whacked-out weasel would constantly tell me that even though my unique ability's were a gift, it did not mean could not easily be mimicked, taught from others.

Personally, I think he was just jealous and maybe even a little frightened by all the things I could do, so he needed to 'protect himself.' I guess that would explain the beatings and obsessive attempts of control....

"You remember Ling....don't you?"

My eyes widened to saucers, and Skipper's expression had turned to one of a mixture of terror and dread.

"No....Volcom you can't...._**no!"**_

I desperately screamed at the top of my lungs, praying, wishing, hoping against all hope that someone would be able to hear my cry, all the while knowing that it was in vain...

And the worst part...? It was the fact that I could do nothing to stop whatever horrendous deed Volcom was about to perform...or so it seemed.

* * *

The strange red-panda stared deep into Marlene's chocolate eyes, as if he could see straight into her vary soul. Before long, she feared his gaze was almost too much to bear, though she daren't look away.

"Tai Lung...has been in hiding for a long time, as well..."

He explained, though only received looks of confusion from the others in return.

"Forgive our misunderstanding Master Shifu, but... Who, exactly, is Tai Lung?"

Kowalski questioned.

"He is in alliance with a good portion of Skipper's enemy's."

Stated Shifu, his ears pinned back in anger. Marlene knew, just by looking into his blue eyes a few moments earlier, that Tai Lung, for some unknown reason, must have been a tender subject to the wise Master. Still... there was so much she didn't understand. So much she needed to know...

"Enemy's? But why... why would Skipper have so many enemy's?"

Marlene had to admit that up until last night, she had thought Skipper and his team were only exaggerating when it came to most of their bizarre stories of adventure... she had never really believed that they had actual, real, dangerous... enemy's.

Kowalski and Private both gave her a strange look, as if she had just said something completely stupid.

"Marlene...we've always had enemy's."

Private said, exchanged a look with Kowalski, who nodded in agreement.

"Yes, Marlene, it is a known fact that we penguins have had many enemy's for a number of years."

The taller of the two confirmed in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

"Oh no... Enemy's, what? More? Does that mean they'll be after us too?!"

Maurice yelled in a panicked tone, made another attempt at escape, which Kowalski easily prevented.

"I'm afraid so, my friend."

Master Shifu said in the same grave tone as before. Kowalski tightened his grip on Maurice's arms and held them behind his back, as if he were his prisoner.

"But we mustn't give up hope... there's no need to panic. Besides it is not your place to battle Tai Lung... but it is your place to rescue your friend, and that is what we must do."

Shifu said in hopes of bringing them even the slightest bit of courage.

Suddenly a loud roar echoed off the walls of the sewer.... It was not one that Marlene and the other's had ever heard before, and it sent pure terror into their hearts... It was also one Shifu knew all too well, and he cringed at the familiar noise.

"We've gotta hury!"

Shifu began to run, but Marlene caught his paw.

"Wait..."

She grabbed the black bag from Kowalski's flipper and pulled from it, a small piece of white cloth. Marlene walked back to Shifu and tied the cloth tightly around his arm. It was his left, where the wolf's leg was bleeding so badly earlier.. now that he had returned to his true form, the wound appeared on his arm. Marlene pulled the knot a little tighter in attempts to stop the blood.

"Oh, come on! You heard Master Shigru! This is _his_ battle, not _ours!_ I understand ya wanna help your little friend and that's nice and all... but look, at least let _me_ go! Oh please oh please just _**let me go!**_**"**

Maurice continued to protest at the top of his lungs, until his constant complaining proved to be too much for Kowalski and he slapped the lemur across the face.

"Would you get a hold of yourself already, ya can't even get the man's name right!"

The tall penguin snapped angrily, though despite his efforts, Maurice only let out a small yelp and continued his battle for escape.

"Get a hold of myself?! Wha... How can you even ask that! I want to live thank you vary much!"

"And you would live a lot longer if you would just shut up..."

Kowalski muttered, beyond the point of annoyed.

"Shut up? But...but...there's so much I haven't done yet..."

Maurice said, trembling at the mere thought of his possible death.

Kowalski sighed.

"Your not going to die..."

"And getting..ripped to shreds sounds so...so sudden!"

Maurice ignored him, began biting his nails nervously.

Kowalski rolled his eyes.

"Correction, your not going to die by anything other than _me_ if you don't zip it!"

"Eep! So now you wanna kill me me too? I see how it is...i knew it! You want to kill me and eat me, Julien was right! Ahhhhhhhh!"

Kowalski paused to give him a disgusted look.

"What? No! Besides, penguins don't eat junk..."

"It's all just a trap, a trick I tell you!"

"Would you just...."

Meanwhile, Private, having wanted to avoid the fight, had walked over to Marlene and pulled out a bottle of water from the black bag that now lie on the ground beside her. He handed it to Master Shifu, who had watched Marlene rap his wound with wide-eyed astonishment...that was about the least expected event he had thought would occur.

"What are you doing?"

Shifu's gaze wandered from Private, to Marlene, who had just finished up doctoring up his visible wounds. They weren't the worst Marlene had seen... Definitely not as severe as Skipper's... the mere thought alone triggered so many emotions, and tears once again sprang to the otters eyes. She was so tired of crying...would it always be like this if they did not find Skipper?

"If there's anything Skipper's taught me, it's how to patch up wounds."

Marlene tried her hardest to keep her voice steady. She smiled a little, remembering the countless times she would act as Skipper's nurse whenever he was injured, which had happened on several different occasions back at the zoo.

* * *

**~~~Rita's POV~~~~**

I stared at the horrid beast that had so suddenly appeared on the stage in utter terror....

_Oh my gosh, Volcom really _is_ completely out of his mind!_

There he was.... Ling. A huge snow leopard with muscles even bigger than the rat kings, stood at the foot of the wooden stage, waiting for something... something I wasn't sure of until she heard Skipper gasp and yell out,

"Ring-tail!"

In the same moment, King Julien was dropped down from the ceiling into Ling's giant arms. The lemur let out a scream and immediately began struggling to escape. I looked over at Skipper to see his reaction. He was staring at the scene before us in wide-eyed horror.

"Volcom, what are you doing?!"

I screamed at him, of course, only receiving his old familiar smirk in response, along with a snappy remark.

"Just watch the show, Rita..."

He murmured, annoyed, before addressing the audience.

_Wait a sec... Audience?!_

"Hoover dam! Where did all these Danes come from?"

Skipper asked. I could tell he was feeling better, at least physically, just by looking at his face. The color had returned, and the dazed look in his crystal eyes had vanished, replacing it was . I let out an inner sigh of relief as he moved to stand, grabbing my paws, he pulled me up along with him.

I looked around, and let out a gasp... it was the first time I had noticed that we were now surrounded by giant Great Danes. The dogs were muscular and intimidating I had to admit, but even they could not compare with Ling. Mina stood in front of the dogs, showing she was their leader.

_Wow, Volcom actually let this whack job become the new _General _of the army of Danes?_

_Then again... why not? She's just as insane as he is._

"So they finally found me..."

Skipper released my paws to ball his flippers into angry fists.I looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Found you...? What did you...?"

Skipper looked at me, but before I had time to even finish asking the question, we both cringed at the sound of Volcom's annoying voice booming through a loud speaker that had randomly appeared in his paw. A cheap trick Ling had taught him, no doubt.

"Ladies and gentle-mammals, put your paws and flippers together for the great....the incredibly.... _Tai Lung!"_

_Okay, how is it even possible to have a voice so squeaky and still sound intimidating and creepy? Wait a second... Tai lung?What?_

I guessed it was only his stage name, but there was something about the name that sent cold shivers down my spine, and a horrible feeling overwhelmed me... Suddenly I wanted to run, scream, and cry all at the same time. I wanted to get out of their as soon as possible. The snow leopard had never struck so much fear into my heart before this vary moment....the worst part?

_I just can't place why!_

"I thinkIt's about time I finally came out of the shadows....what do _you_ think?"

Tai Lung, or _Ling,_ whoever he really is, flashed a sinister grin that held pure and utter evil as he looked directly into my eyes. Skipper noticed this, put a flipper on my shoulder, and gently pulled me closer, though his eyes were locked on the stage and the unfolding scene that had begun to play out before us.

* * *

Master Shifu returned Marlene's gentle smile with kind eyes.

"Thank you for your kindness."

She couldn't help but notice that he himself seemed to have a hard time even faking a smile. She understood the pain and agony of tragedy, the darker side of life, and was almost certain that it was the cause of the distant look in the red panda's deep blue eyes.

_Those eyes...where have I seen them before? _

Marlene racked her brain to no avail of who they could possibly belong too. Why did they seem so familiar?

"Ah, thank nothing of it! My pleasure, really. I hope that feels better..."

She smiled again, before gesturing for him to lead the way. Master Shifu gave a solemn nod, and once again broke into a jog, only this time the other's followed suit with Marlene and Private at the lead beside Master Shifu.

"Wait, no, I never agreed to this! Nooooooooooooooo!"

Maurice screamed almost hysterically.

Kowalski retrained the lemurs arms behind his back with a rope he had found out of the same black bag Marlene had taken from him earlier. He grabbed it from the ground as he passed where she had absentmindedly left the idem unattended, and bolted after the other's with Maurice dragging not too far behind.

Master Shifu led them through many underground tunnel's, and even through calm crossings of water until finally, he stopped abruptly and whipped around to face the other's, gestured for them to keep quiet.

At this point, Kowalski clamped a flipper over Maurice's mouth tightly and whispered something into his ear that, whatever it was, had caused the lemur to instantly shut up and instead, he began to shiver in fear from whatever horrid threat the penguin had used only to force him to cooperate. _Possibly even saving all of our lives! _

Of course, Kowalski knew he would have never actually carried out his threat, though his goal of scaring the lemur seemed to have worked out just perfectly.

"Now listen carefully....what I'm going to need you to do requires your full ability to do _exactly as I say."_

* * *

Rita watched on in utter horror as Tai Lung tossed King Julien up in the air, her breath caught in her throat every time the snow leopard would pretend to loose his grip and drop him. Luckily though, he didn't. Each time Tai Lung would catch the flailing ring-tailed lemur in mid air... Rita had never seen such a terror in Julien's eyes in her short time of coming to know him oh so long ago.

"For my first trick I'm going to need a volunteer from the audience....to _assist_ my little...friend."

A huge grin spread across the snow leopards face as the army of Danes that were surrounding Rita and Skipper began to chuckle evilly... Rita barely had time to look up before Mina let out another horrendous fit of laughter and shoved Skipper forward.

"Here's your volunteer, Tai Lung! Take my brother Skipper!"

She bellowed joyfully. There was an edge to her manic tone that dripped in a fiery vengeance.

Rita whipped around quickly as Skipper let out a grunt, nearly lost his footing, though he managed to catch himself. Although the treatment the little lemur had given him earlier proved to be working remarkably well, Rita knew the painfully obvious truth that it would not be enough, yet, for the penguin to regain his full strength.

She anxiously watched on, waiting to see what horrific deed Volcom would hold up his sleeve, and how she could possibly prevent it from taking place.

_Go on Volcom, reveal whatever sick and twisted plan you've come up with now... _

Rita looked at Skipper and gave a wink...a silent message that she had his back. He caught her gaze, though could not hide the worry etched within his own features.

'Don't worry.'

The little lemur mouthed to him even as, at General Mina's unspoken command, a giant Great Dane made his way through the crowd, and stopped to tower above them. Rita wriggled away from Skipper's grip to stand in front of him. She glared at the dog with such a mixture of bravery and fire that Skipper could not help but admire, yet at the same time, he worried for Rita's safety.

"Stay away from him, ya big dummy!"

She snarled.

"What are you doing? Are you nuts? Your going to get yourself killed!"

Skipper exclaimed, pulling her back.

The dog however, seemed to find the whole thing amusing, because he merely let out a snort and bent down, opened his giant mouth to pick the ever-protesting Skipper up around the waist, though the dog made careful effort as not to press down on the tender flesh. Skipper's deep wounds, thanks to Rita, had already healed up enough that the action itself did not cause any true damage.

An idea suddenly entered Rita's head and this time instead of picking a fight, the lemur simply took a step back, cocked her head to the side, and flashed the penguin a lopsided grin that held the awkward combination of anxiety, adrenaline, and perhaps, a tiny amount of insanity.

Skipper arched an eyebrow, racked his brain of what bizarre thoughts had entered her mind.

_What could that lemur possibly be cooking up, now?_

^^^^Rita's POV^^^^

I watched the Great Dane carry Skipper through the crowd as the other's each let out a taunting smirk as they passed, some snarled and growled at Skipper to scare and terrorize him of course, like the heartless thugs they were. When the Dane finally passed Mina, an evil grin spread across her face.

"I do hope you enjoy this brother, I really do.....I know _I _will!"

The dogs joined her in another round of psychotic laughter. I felt one of them grab me by the scruff of the neck moments later and carry me, kicking and screaming, to the front of the crowd.

"Hey, what are you doing?! Get your paws off me, ya jerkwads!"

I shouted as loudly as I could, mainly annoyed that one of Mina's little robots had picked me up oh so effortlessly, and now that I was at the front of the crowd... They totally butchered my awesome plan!

_Darn you, Mina! Darn you and your little goons for making this whole thing even harder! Well, this certainly changes things.... Meh, no worries, I've always enjoyed a little of a challenge anyways._

I crossed my arms and sent the blubbering idiots surrounding me a glare, stuck my tongue out just to annoy them. Only it didn't work on most of the smarter ones, only a stupid dog gave me a funny look and scratched his head in short lived confusion.

"Heeey, that's not vary nice you know little squirrel!"

He finally said in a voice that sounded as dumb as he looked.

"Squirrel? She's a rat, idiot!"

A dog beside him whacked the other over the head with a paw. Of course, the comment sparked an argument, and I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, guys! Would you shut up? First of all...I'm not a_ squirrel_...I'm a _lemur!"_

They each turned to look at me and snarled.

"Stay out of this pipsqueak."

I scowled, about to retort, but before I could grab the chance the wicked witch of the west herself grabbed _me_ harshly by the arm and lifted me off the ground, up to her level. Darn Mina for her annoying tallness!

"Now listen here ya little brat, you better not try anything funny or this may just be your _last_ night among the living...either that, or you'll _wish_ it were."

General Mina growled into my ear in a voice that would have sent poor little baby puppies crying to their mommy's.

"Yes, Corilla Devil."

I retorted with a grin I knew would get under her skin, exactly the way I wanted it too.

The birds face twisted in pure and utter anger.

If we were anywhere else, she might have even tried to kill me herself if Volcom didn't need me alive. Not that she could, of course. Still, I had no doubt in my mind that she would've tried. The little murderer....

"Why you little..."

Thankfully, she couldn't finish. Mina, or the witch, (personally I prefer the second) had turned her attention solely onto the stage. Apparently Tai Lung was making some sort of big 'announcement' in regards to his act, and Mina was too focused on him to keep a firm grip on my arm, so it was easy to rip it out of her grip and quickly scamper as far away from her as possible. I wound up standing, still in the front row, next to the dog who still thought I was squirrel.

_Meh, at least he seems nicer than the others..._

Unfortunately that was a small bright side in the long run.

In was only when I heard the bellowing, loud, sinister voice of Tai Lung that I actually began paying attention to what the overgrown kitty-cat had to say.

"....and now I will perform a task so amazing it will leave you all standing there with your mouth agape! I dedicate this amazing, outstanding trick to _you, Rita...."_

The large snow leopard grinned down at me with flaming yellow eyes that seemed to have the ability to cut anyone to the vary core, just by staring into their eyes. I tore my own away, unable to hold his gaze, and instead settled on glaring at his face.

Tai Lung flashed a taunting grin that only made me long to slap...no, _slice_ that stupid smirk right off his face. And then it dawned on me....those eyes.....I've seen the same cruel emptiness, lined with a mixture of bitter hatred once before....

I watched as Tai Lung placed Skipper and Julien in separate metal cages... the cages themselves were only a little bigger than themselves. Tai Lung picked up the cages and lifted them high in the air as the stage shifted and creaked until it eventually became some sort of training ground. Tai Lung let out an evil laugh as he set the cages upon a huge metal block and began showing off.

He leaped into the obstacle course, bragging that he was '_The best Kung Fu Master there had ever been or ever will be!' _As much as I absolutely _hated_ to admit it, he was actually....pretty impressive.

* * *

_Ta da! The Mystery character is indeed, Master Shifu from the movie Kung Fu Panda! ^_^ The reason he was so hard to guess is because he is a Red Panda...I used to think he was a fox, but it's okay because it ties into the plot a lot better than I thought it would. Everything will be explained in the next chapter, so please stay tuned for chapter 13 and please give me lots of feedback! :) _


	13. Chapter 13: Haunted

_Hey everyone! I am SO SORRY for the incredibly long wait!! I've been really busy, and a lot of weird things have happened, but I've finally got this chapter ready to post._ _Thanks for those who did review! Everyone, Please review this chapter!!! I really need feedback on this...hahaha. _

_

* * *

  
_

_If I tell you  
Will you listen?  
Will you stay?  
Will you be here forever?  
Never go away?_

_Never thought things would change  
Hold me tight  
Please don't say again  
That you have to go._

_A bitter thought  
I had it all  
But I just let it go  
Hold your silence  
It's so violent  
Since your gone._

* * *

Skipper looked up as Tai Lung placed him and King Julien in separate metal cages and then upon the metal block, side by side. He watched the giant cat sprint off and leap into an obstacle course that only the top Masters of Kung Fu use as a training ground... As much as he had grown to despise this snow leopard with every essence in his being, Skipper had to admit, Tai Lung had a few moves he wouldn't mind learning himself.

"Skipper! Oh, finally, a familiar face! I never thought I would be saying such a thing...ever, like, in my life...but boy am I happy to see you!"

King Julien exclaimed, snapped Skipper's mind out of thought. He turned to face him. The look on the Ring-tails face told Skipper that Julien would have leaped into his flippers out of pure joy, that is, if they weren't separated by metal bars.

"Ring-tail! What in Davy Jones locker are you doing here?!"

Skipper exclaimed, and then a horrible realization hit him.

_Where are the others?! Wasn't Julien with them..?_

"Julien, quick! Where are the others?! Where are Marlene, Private, Kowalski? What in the name of sweet salmon has happened to them? WHERE ARE THEY?!"

He screamed the last words, taking Julien by surprise. The lemur King seemed genuinely taken aback by the penguins sudden outburst, and even a little frightened.

"The others...? Eh...are-are you meaning the silly otter--"

Julien began nervously until Skipper cut him off.

"She's not silly! Yes, them you idiot, where are they?!"

Julien held a finger to his chin to think for a moment, bringing Skipper the slightest amount of hope. Whatever hope he had mustered however, was brutally crushed when King Julien began speaking again.

"That...my flippered friend, remains a mystery. Even I, the King...am not knowing where the otter and your other flightless friends may be going. I left them a long time ago to look for little Lillian..."

Skipper paused, gave Julien a look as if he had finally lost whatever sanity that was left in his mind.

"Little who?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, my bad...what I am meaning to say is little _Jillian._"

Julien corrected himself with a smile.

Skipper arched an eyebrow.

"And who in good gravy is that?"

Julien looked at him as if he were stupid.

"Wow...I had no idea penguins have such bad memories.... You've met her before! You know...de little lemur...the cute little black one?"

Skipper glared, before realization finally took over.

"You mean Rita? For your information, her name isn't Jillian Ring-tail, it's _Rita._"

"Hmm, she must have changed her name.... yes she must have changed it so the green monster would forget she was alive. Uh huh! That's it...I'm a guineas."

While Julien was speaking, Skipper took the time to analyze the lemurs features. Aside from a few miner cuts and bruises, Julien did not appear badly injured, and for that he was glad. No-matter how much the royal pain in the neck would annoy him at times, Skipper would never wish any real harm on the lemur.

"You see penguin, I was looking for little Rita like the oh so heroic, charming, hansom, honorable..."

"I get it!"

Skipper interrupted, rolling his eyes. He could tell the recent events hadn't effected the lemurs usual arrogant persona even in the slightest.

"Let your King finish!"

Julien said, crossing his arms in a childish manner.

Skipper sighed.

"Proceed."

"What? What is this pro-ceed you are saying... I do not have any seeds to pro, whatever that is meaning..."

Skipper palmed his face, growing irritated.

"Just. Continue."

Julien looked confused for a moment or so and paused to scratch his head.

"Eh, continue what again?"

"Fish and chips man, what you were saying earlier! About Rita!"

Skipper looked about ready to explode, though Julien, as usual, went on completely oblivious of his companions growing irritation.

"OH! Rita, yes...such a charming little lemur, I do admire her for de little girls oh so daring bravery...doesn't it just sent the shivers down your back, Skipper?"

Finally though, Julien noticed the death glare Skipper was giving him and laughed nervously.

"Ah! Right... You see...I was looking for Rita when these huge giant..._dog_ things grabbed me and lemur-napped me! _Me! _A _King! _Now don't say a word penguin—here he slipped a hand through the bars and held a single finger up to Skipper's beak to silence him—"I know what you are thinking! How daring of them!? I know, right? Now I bet you are thinking...how did such a brave and noble lemur King escape..do you know how Skipper?"

"I haven't the faintest idea."

Skipper replied sarcastically. He slapped the lemurs hand away from his break, in return, causing Julien to quickly retract his sore hand, and cradle it with his other.

"I didn't! Which is why I am now trapped in this horrendous cage type thing."

Julien exclaimed in frustration, kicked a few of the bars with his foot, which, in the end had proved to be a meaningless task. He let out a groan and hopped on one foot, holding the other in pain.

"Noooo, really? I would have never guessed."

Julien ignored Slipper's comment, and instead, went off on a rant about his precious feet and how none may hurt them, not even the metal bars.

Skipper rolled his eyes for a second time, before Tai Lung's mighty voice caught his attention. He and Julien each turned simultaneously towards the right side of the stage where the snow leopard had just finished a series of miraculous Kung Fu moves and perfected the ending with a flawless landing. He did a bow for the audience of hundreds of Great Danes...

Skipper looked out into the crowd and noticed that other animals had come to join them, mainly rottweilers. His eyes searched the many rows of eager faces until finally, he spotted a tiny familiar figure....

_Sweet potato pie, that's Rita! _

She had climbed onto the head of a Great Dane who seemed to be cheering the loudest. Skipper guessed Rita's reasoning behind the action was to get a better look, a better feel, of everything that was taking place.

"And _that_ is how the _real_ dragon warrior perfects the ancient arts of **Kung Fu!"**

Skipper heard the Snow leopard shout in a voice that portrayed enough pride to fill an ocean, yet also, a sting of bitterness singed his tone. At the sound of his cry, the crowd gave a joyous cheer.

Tai Lung waited until the sound had died down a bit, before a huge eerie smile crept onto his face. It was in this moment that the snow leopard did the vary thing Skipper had been dreading all this time... Tai Lung had shifted his attention over to his and Julien's cages once again, and Skipper feared what would come next....that is, until a strong voice seemed to cause the huge beast to pause.

"Tai Lung....you will _**never**_ be the Dragon Warrior!"

Tai Lung had stopped in his tracks, fists clenched in raging anger. He glared at the tiny figure that had appeared on the opposite end of the stage.

**~~~Rita's POV~~~~**

Rita's eyes lit up at once...

_Could it be? Could that really be him...? No...that's impossible._

Still, I stood on the dog's head, high on my tippy toes. I _had_ to get a better look...I had to know. I finally spotted the nervous, almost frantic faces of King Julien and Skipper. My stomach twisted in a mixture of anxiety and grief, and my vision flew passed them, to the tiny figure standing on the opposite end of the stage, a good few feet behind Tai Lung. I knew I had heard his voice before, there was no doubt in my mind.....

_But where?_

Skipper froze as the smoke cleared around the stage to finally reveal the small form of a familiar red panda.. he noted the navy blue cloth that had rapped around one arm, the one where a huge chunk of his sleeve seemed to have been torn off by an enemy, though he was not yet able to get a clear view of his face.

Tai Lung let out a deep chuckle and it seemed, for the moment, that all of his anger had disappeared. Skipper knew all too well that in actuality, it was just suppressed, waiting for the right moment to make itself known when he needed it most...in combat.

"Well I must admit it has been a long time...too long actually, to have been away from your favorite student, _Master."_

He spat the last word almost like poison, and Skipper could not help but notice the panda flinch as the powerful snow leopard advanced.

_Wait a second...Master....? Could that be....? Is he....?_

_No.....no way!_

"I have told you before Tai Lung, I am _no longer..._your Master."

Master Shifu finally stepped into the spotlight, and Skipper's eyes widened to saucers...

_It's him! I can't believe it's really him... what is he doing here?_

King Julien had cocked his head to the head, and was currently staring at Skipper in confusion.

"Hellooo? Skipper? You somewhere in that small head thing of yours?"

His voice brought the penguin out of thought, and back to reality, but Skipper ignored Julien.

"Have you missed me?"

He could hear Tai Lung taunt the aging red panda as he walked forward, with each step, he was a little closer to his main target.

"So sorry to hear about your little..." Tai Lung paused to give a cruel smirk.

"_Accident."_

Shifu only glared back, refused to give his former student any satisfaction of knowing how badly he had truly injured him...Skipper could tell just by the amount of crimson that had already seeped through the cloth around his arm. He flinched as he took the time to truly examine the extent of his allies visible injuries. A thick layer of blood covered Shifu's chest. It could even be seen through the thick layer of his brown robe, giving the liquid a dark, almost black sort of color.

Of course, Skipper could not be sure if all of the disturbing substance actually belonged to Shifu himself or if it were the effects of a battle with an enemy. Either way, he noted that Shifu had plenty of other wounds to make up for it. Some were miner, yet other's could prove to be fatal if not treated. Nevertheless, Shifu seemed to be doing a good job at masking the pain, because he did not back down, even when Tai Lung lunged for him.

**~~~Rita's POV~~~~**

I couldn't believe my eyes...I wanted to pinch myself until I could see a small bit of crimson drip from my skin, just to prove this wasn't a dream. Apart of me almost wished it was. Something inside me recognized the small figure at once, and I could have sworn my heart skipped a beat. I had only heard rumors of the Great Kung Fu Warrior known as Master Shifu...

He would visit me sometimes in my dreams and show me the life I always wanted. Of course, as fantasy's always do, the dreams stayed in my heads only as inviting, cruel, taunting illusions of everything I couldn't really have in real life. Funny how that is...

Still, there was something about his eyes...they were so familiar... they reminded me of the fox I had met so long ago. Cold, yet gentle... firm, yet soft...strong, yet sensitive somewhere deep inside, buried with bride, grief, and sorrow. _Haunted. _I shook my head to clear my thoughts and drag myself, kicking and screaming, back to the world I hated most... the cold world ofreality_. _

I returned my gaze to the fight.

_What the heck is someone like _Master Shifu_ doing in a place like this, anyways?_

I couldn't help but wonder... Master Shifu was a _Kung Fu Warrior_ after all, and an underground sewer in the heart of New York City isn't exactly the first place you'd think to look for him.

I watched the red panda carefully, and flinched when Tai Lung lunged for him. I had taken the time to notice all of the many wounds on his small body, the worst, being the one on his arm... at least a blue cloth was tired around it to help stop the bleeding, but I could still see the cruel crimson that leaked through the thick fabric. Some of the substance had already turned black as it dried. I flinched at the site... It invoked a terrifying thought...

_How much blood has the tiny Master actually lost?_

I shivered a little. My mind began to race.

_What is he doing?! He doesn't stand a chance! If he goes through with this, he'll be killed for sure! What is he thinking?!_

You'd think I would be used to blood by now. Instead, even through the years, it was always the opposite. I _hated_ the site of blood... it reminded me too much of how easily it could drain out of your body, and leave you lifeless within mere minutes. After all, blood is the source of life in an animals body, and I watched too many bleed out before my eyes...

I wanted to help them.... My heart desperately screamed for my body to do something, but my mind held back... it was bound, held captive, by an immobilizing fear, leaving me helpless to do anything aside from watch...watch and weep for the ones I wasn't brave enough to save.

The images still haunt me. The victims terrified faces still stare back at me late at night in my dreams with cold, empty eyes. Begging, pleading me to do something..._anything_ to end their misery. I hate myself for being such a coward...for hiding when I could have done something.

I shook my head to try and clear my thoughts for a second time, and redirected my attention back to the fight... Master Shifu had presently taken a hard blow from Tai Lung in the stomach that had thrown him several feet backwards, though Shifu didn't hesitant.

He flipped out of the way seconds before Tai Lung punched the floor of the stage with a force that broke through the wood, the vary spot Shifu had been standing moments earlier. The incredible impact left a large crack in the remaining pavement. Tai Lung leaped down off of the stage and glared hateful daggers of spite into Shifu's eyes....

"Are you happy now, Shifu? Are you happy battling against your own _son?"_

There was a certain venom in the snow leopards voice that made him seem all the more menacing.

Shifu merely stood there...just feet away from his opponent. His eyes seemed to be searching Tai Lung's own for something that the criminal did not seem to posses.

_RUN! Don't just stand there Shifu, what are you waiting for!? Run! __**RUN! **_

But Shifu continued to stand where he was, ignoring my minds desperate (unheard) protests. Tai Lung rushed at him with full speed, and that's when I realized that Tai would show his apparent adopted father no mercy...he charged relentlessly and punched the red panda hard in the gut.

This time as Shifu struggled to regain his breath from another blow to the stomach, I noticed he wasn't able to get up this time... I quickly looked away. At this point, I refused to watch anymore.

_He's tormenting him! Shifu...he's going to die out there!_

My mind screamed, as if he were someone I used to be close with...as if he were once my best friend. I can't explain the feeling with mere words alone, because there would never be enough. The best I can do to describe what I felt is to say that I felt a strange connection to Master Shifu that I couldn't place. Seemingly, there was no rhyme or reason behind the strange motion, and I tried shrugging it off.

_Then why don't you do something about it?_

A voice whispered that I could only recognize as my conscience.

I turned my head.. On my visions hasty retreat, once more I spotted the two cages that Skipper and King Julien were trapped in, and paused. My heart leaped inside my chest. _Skipper!_ My mind desperately called out his name. _If only he could hear me..._

There they were...so close, and yet so far. It truly is a terrible _feeling_ to be so close to the ones you care about so much, and yet....know that you can't reach them.

I studied their expressions for a moment or so to keep my mind off of the fight. Julien seemed oblivious, as usual, so I quickly moved on to Skipper. My ears perked up when he caught my gaze, stood up, and then began yelling something I couldn't hear, waved his flippers in a frantic motion. I cocked my head to the side and gave him a puzzled look. I began to panic as horrible scenarios played out before my minds eyes.

_What on earth? Skipper, What is it? What's wrong?!_

As much as I wanted to scream out to him, I knew, for his safety and Julien's, it was probably best not to draw anymore unneeded attention to them... the crowd however, seemed too focused on the battle between Tai Lung and Shifu to really notice, or care about me anymore.

I was suddenly lost, forgotten in a sea of chaos. Even the dog I had been standing on suddenly let out a hollering cheer and took off with the rest of the crowd, General Mina at the lead, to get a closer look at the fight. The atmosphere itself felt a lot like being at a dog fight, and I hated the feeling with everything inside me. I quickly leaped off the Danes head, and onto a nearby pipe just in time before I became the crowds living, or otherwise not to living, pancake.

"Rita! Get out! Get out while you still can! _**RITA! RUN!"**_

Skipper screamed, panting heavily, his heart felt as if it would explode. He saw Rita presently clinging to a broken pipe...he watched her climb up to a more stable one, and pause... Skipper studied her face and concluded that she seemed to be having a hard time deciding which move she wanted to make next, which would be the smartest, and which would eventually lead her down the path to fate.

Even Skipper himself had to admit that it would be a tricky decision to make, and one that had to be carefully thought out and well organized. Otherwise, one wrong move could prove to end in disaster. Skipper cursed himself, and the cage that prevented him from doing anything to assist his newfound friend.

He had witnessed first hand, to his utter and complete horror, what ruthless damage Tai Lung had already done to Master Shifu, and he was said to be the greatest Kung Fu Warrior in all of China....if the snow leopard were in alliance with Volcom, how much more torment would he inflict upon poor Rita as punishment for helping him if she did not escape?

The lemurs haunting words still replayed in the back of his memory....

"_Nah, death would be the easy way out...it'll be something worse...**much worse."**_

And maybe...something else?

"_No! Please...don't leave me!** SKIPPER!"**_

A strange voice screamed out from somewhere hidden deep in the vary depths of the penguins memory banks, things he had tried so hard to forget, and had succeeded for a time. It seemed his past might be finally catching up with him. Flashbacks began to play out on a mental screen, images began to flash together to organize scenes that only Skipper's minds eye could see, erupting haunting emotions only he could feel...

"Hello? Silly Penguin....? Are you hearing me?"

He could hear King Julien's voice gradually grow a little more distant with each passing second. Soon, voices of all kinds, young and old, chided together to form words....some sounded desperate.

"_We're losing altitude, Skipper! Medea! Medea! The plain can't take much more!"_

"_Skipper, I'm scared!"_

"_We have to jump!"_

"_But I'm scared!"_

"_We have no other choice!"_

Others...cruel.

"_You don't understand, it's either her or us...I don't know about you, but I choose her!"_

"_You don't know what your talking about Manfredi, your not thinking straight man! Just calm down!" _

"_No! I know what I'm doing...now you can either come with me, or have fun sleeping with the fishes." _

Some...were terrified.

"_Daddy what are you doing? Why-Why is mommy on the floor?"_

_BANG!_

"_MOMMY!" _

_The little penguin looked up, her face stained with tears._

"_Skipper...Skipper? Do-Don't leave....please!"_

The sounds of devastating sobs faded off until a different voice took their place, one that took on the same devastating tone. It screamed out the words of pure and utter desperation,

"_Skipper...Skipper don't leave me! PLEASE!"_

It was nearly impossible to make out the mammals face however, as the image flashed before Skipper's eyes, he realized the poor little thing was covered in smoke and coughing violently. Skipper noted the tone belonged to a little girl....different than the one before. The only physical trait he was finally able to make out was the figures frightening familiar crystal blue eyes, overflowing with broken tears...

_Wait a second...I've seen those eyes before!_

Soon the images his mind projected took over any sites or sounds emitted from the outside world......

_A small pair of crystal blue eyes stared worriedly at a pacing red panda. Skipper knew the child was far too young to understand why her father was so upset, or the reason he was sending her away, but Skipper knew, nonetheless, that the tiny red panda could comprehend that something was wrong with Master Shifu, and in her childlike innocence, it hurt her to see him in such a state._

_Skipper had been sent to the Valley of Peace, along with his team, Manfredi and Johnson, on an important mission, perhaps the most important of his life. Tai Lung, a feared criminal wanted for several thousand terrible felonies, had escaped from Chor Ghom prison to seek out his revenge not only on the Valley of Peace, but on Shifu's own daughter, Netra._

_With the aged Kung Fu Master's dear friend, Master Oogway, departed from the world of the living, the threatened red panda had asked, out of pure desperation, for Skipper and his team to carry out a mission so deadly, he warned it could threaten their vary lives... The mission being to offer their protection for his beloved little Netra, going to near impossible lengths to ensure her safety._

_Upon his request, Master Shifu had failed to mention the actual reason behind Tai Lungs pursuit of Netra, but Skipper figured it was not his place to ask. It was only his role to take Netra far away from the Valley, even China itself, to a place where it would be close to impossible for Tai Lung to track her down, a task that had already proven to be a lot more tricky than he had originally thought._

_Still, after putting together carefully laid out strategy plan, if everything went accordingly, Skipper and his team had managed to find a solution that would sneak Netra safely out of China, unseen by any lurking enemies._

_Shifu had explained that she was, after all, the panda's only blood related child and he had stressed that he had made enough mistakes in his long lifetime, and he could not bear the thought of making another so devastating, especially one that would effect little Netra._

_Skipper, never one to shy away from danger, felt honored that Shifu would entrust him and his team with such a great task, and had excepted this mission to carry out the aging Master's command without hesitation. He was also assigned to find the little one a loving family that would care for her, just in case......._

_Skipper grimaced._

_He did didn't want to think it. The weight the poor child would carry, and the empty whole in her heart where her father once filled, would stay that way forever, bleeding occasionally more times than others, if poor little Netra grew up with the absence of her father._

_Despite the ache in Skipper's heart that went out to little Netra, even he had to admit that he could understand Master Shifu's need to take caution. He wanted to make sure Netra was taken care of even he did not survive the battle he knew he must face, with Tai Lung...and Shifu had told Skipper that he had a terrible feeling that he wouldn't._

_Skipper could see it every time he caught a glimpse of the look in the aging panda's misty eyes... the worry, sorrow, grief, the heavy burden he carried around on his shoulders and the strain it brought... but most importantly, he saw Shifu's great love for little Netra. It was truly a look that could have cracked even a heart of stone. The little red panda cradled securely in Skipper's gentle flippers blinked up at him with with the saddest eyes he had ever seen, and broke his mind out of thought._

_"Skippy, why is daddy so upset?"_

_She asked innocently, her voice edged with raw emotion._

_Skipper looked down at the child, unsure of how to answer._

_"Well, Netra, he..he's upset because..."_

_But before he could finish, Netra cut him off._

_"Is he leaving because I did something bad?"_

_The words were spoken with such a tender sorrow that made Skipper's heart melt. He shifted her in his flippers to a more comfortable position._

_"No! No, no, no, no.... What would make you something like that, Netra? No... Master Shifu, err, I mean your father is upset because he doesn't want you to go."_

_The small panda seemed to think this over for a moment or so before looking up._

_"Why do I have to go?"_

_She asked, an ocean of salty tears filled her deep blue eyes..._

_Eyes just like her fathers, thought Skipper._

_"I've told you before Netra, you have to leave because it is my job to keep you safe, and you wouldn't be safe here."_

_Shifu sighed tiredly, taking the little red panda from Skipper's flippers, into his own small arms. He held her close to his chest, and Netra buried her face within the warm, welcoming fabric of her fathers soft robe. The only place she truly felt safe was when she was in his arms._

_"But...I-I don't want to leabve..."_

_Netra sobbed, her voice muffled into his soft fur._

_"I want to stway here...with you."_

_Shifu sighed, gave Skipper a pleading look, in which he simply returned with a simple shrug of the shoulders._

_"What can I say? Of course she's going to be sad! What kid in their right mind is going to want to leave the only family she's ever known? It's only natural for the little panda to respond by...by...."_

_Skipper immediately regretted the words the second after they had forced their way out of his beak._

_"Not helping, penguin."_

_Shifu said, shot Skipper a cold glare._

_"Oh, sorry."_

_He muttered. Once he fully realized who he was talking too, his gaze faltered to his feet, though only for a few moments. When Skipper looked up, he noticed that Nerta's quiet sobs had grown into hysterical waves of utter devastation, and she seemed to be clinging to Master Shifu as if she feared he would disappear the moment she let go._

Then again, she probably does...poor kid.

_Skipper watched as the elder red panda rubbed his daughter's back in soothing motions in an attempt to calm her down. But how could he expect her to calm down when she was losing the only parent she had ever known, the only one she could run to seek console from?_

The kid will probably cry herself to sleep for weeks! Maybe even months...maybe she'll even need therapy! Or...maybe she'll join the army.

_Skipper found that he had to keep reminding himself that Shifu had only the best intentions for sending Netra away... it would be somewhere far away from the sinister clutches of the snow leopard that craved her vary life, safe from harm. Still, Skipper knew all too well that Netra would always need Shifu, and though he was trying his hardest to protect her, sometimes what a parent thinks is the right choice, even out of love, doesn't always mean it __is the right one._

_"There, there...shhh...Netra, you must remember it will not be forever. We'll see each other again."_

_Shifu forced the best smile he could, pulled his daughter closer to him. The little panda responded by tightening her grip, and resting her small chin on his left shoulder. Skipper noticed she had calmed down, if only a little, though tears were still raining down her face as if to match the weather. A loud crack of thunder startled the little panda and she hid her face in the soft fabric of Shifu's robe once again, into his shoulder._

_"Shhh...it's only thunder. Promise me something, okay my little angel?"_

_He lifted Netra's chin just enough so that she was looking directly into his eyes. Shifu shifted her in his arms to one side, reached into the pocket of his brown robe to pull out a small silver trinket of some sort. It sparkled in the faint light to reveal a beautiful pink diamond locket that was carved into the shape of a heart._

_"Now I want you to open this locket whenever you feel alone...promise me you will keep this...and know that I am always with you. Promise?"_

_Netra looked up at her father with the saddest eyes Shifu had ever seen. Skipper could tell by the heartbreak the red panda wore so transparently on his face. There was no way a child Netra's age could possible understand what her father asked of her... though Skipper had to give Netra credit for trying her best._

_The little panda looked at Shifu through teary eyes and whispered a small,_

_"I-I..promise."_

_"That's my girl."_

_He smiled, gently tied the solid gold chain around her neck. The diamond hung loosely on the panda's neck, much like a long choker would._

_"But daddy....I-I don't want you to leave..please stay...I promise I'll be good!"_

_Shifu paused.. her words had struck somewhere deep into the vary depths of his heart. He knew the task at hand would not be an easy one, yet he knew he could not let his own heartache get in the way of his daughters safety._

_"It's nothing you've done...this is only for your safety...."_

_He whispered, and Skipper could have sworn he seen a single droplet of water fall atop Netra's forehead, though she herself did not appear to notice._

_"Now Netra, you have to be strong... Skipper will take good care of you. You like him, don't you?"_

_Shifu forced the words he knew he must speak out of his rebellious mouth._

_The child nodded slowly._

_"Ye-Yes...of course."_

_"Do you think you can be strong? Can you do that for me?"_

_Shifu asked softly._

_Netra avoided his gaze and murmured a small,_

_"I'll try..."_

_Shifu smiled and hugged her closer._

_"I love you..."_

_Right in this moment, everyone directed their attention towards two huge wooden doors as they busted open to reveal a cheetah. It sped into the room at full speed and on it's back, sat a penguin no smaller than Skipper himself clutching onto his companions fur for dear life in one flipper, the other clutched tightly to a golden scroll._

_"Skipper! Master Shifu!"_

_Skipper immediately turned his attention to his recruit when he heard the penguin shout out their names. Johnson leaped off of the cheetah when he skidded to a stop before them, and ran up to Skipper._

_"It-It's Tai Lung!"_

_The penguin exclaimed. Turning to Master Shifu, he handed him the scroll in his flipper._

_Right in the same moment a gray goose Skipper recognized to be one of the many messenger birds of the Palace, flew into the room and crash-landed into the cheetah's leg, earning an annoyed glare from Manfredi._

_"So-So sorry Manfredi!" He apologized nervously, out of breath, before turning to Shifu._

_"Tai-Tai Lung is on his way! He should be here any minute now... please Mater, we don't have much time!" The bird exclaimed frantically, also receiving a glare from Johnson._

_"Ya know...we were perfectly capable of delivering the news to them ourselves."_

_He muttered while Master Shifu ripped open the scroll he was given with a free hand, and scanned it over with his sharp eyes. Skipper shot his comrade a cold glare._

_"Johnson." He scolded firmly. "Remember man, we're only guests here, so try to be polite."_

_"Yes Sir...."_

_The penguin replied slowly, his eyes dropped to the floor in a sheepish manner._

_Skipper returned his gaze to Master Shifu. A mixture of emotions hid somewhere within the aging red panda's deep blue eyes, and his face, Skipper noted, had turned a ghostly pale. He could tell whatever information kept hidden in that scroll for only Shifu's eyes to see, must have been something terrible, though the great Kung Fu Master seemed to be trying to remain strong for little Netra._

_She looked at her father, the same confused worry still etched within her expression._

_"What is it daddy? What's wrong?"_

_Netra asked. Skipper could tell from many years of military training that she too, could feel the endearing tension that now layered the room in a thick fog of invisible smoke. She also sensed fear, and the unnerving fact that something was dangerously wrong, more so than her young mind was able to fully comprehend._

_"Something bad has happened Netra...something vary bad. You must leave now...go with Skipper, he'll take care for you!"_

_Shifu said hastily before handing the frightened red panda over to Skipper, who quickly took her in his flippers._

_""Daddy don't go! Please...don't leave me!"_

_The sound of her broken cries filled Skipper's heart with regret, even as he held the little one against his chest in hopes of offering her some sort of comfort. When he had first agreed to take on this mission, Skipper had never dreamed how hard the grueling task of taking such a young mammal away from her father, would truly become._

_"It will not be forever Netra, I promise..."_

_Shifu said, a bittersweet warmth in his tone. Skipper watched him plant a soft kiss to the young red panda's forehead one last time._

_Everyone gasped as the doors flew open a second time, revealing none other than the source of everyone's fear and current trouble.... Tai Lung himself stood just feet away from the other's, a confidant, eerie grin spread wide across his face._

_"I have returned home, Master..."_

_At the sound of the snow leopards taunting words, Master Shifu quickly grabbed one of the many satin blankets one of the messengers birds were conveniently holding near by, and rapped it around Netra so that even her face was covered before Tai Lung could get a clear view of who or what the child was, or so he hoped. He looked at Skipper and motioned a hidden message for only the penguin to see._

_Skipper, of course, deciphered it at once, and yelled for his team in coded secrecy to follow his command. They did so without compliant or hesitation, and within minutes, he and his team were on a private vet, soon to be far away from the Jade Palace, Tai Lung, and...._

_"Daddy! No, wait! I want to stay! __Wait!"_

_The tiny child struggled to toss the blanket off of her body, and leap out of Skipper's flippers. Netra frantically ran to the window where Skipper knew she was frantically searching the ground for her father.... unfortunately, she had made it just in time to see the large snow leopard land a hard punch to his opponent's face. The blow threw Master Shifu, painfully literally, through the walls of the Jade Palace and out of sight._

_Netra let out an understandable gasp of utter and complete horror. Skipper could not imagine what the effects of witnessing something like that would do to someone of such a young age, but he knew the effects would not be good._

_"__**DADDY!"**_

_The scream barely pierced her lips as Netra's voice cracked with grief, tears immediately sprang to the red panda's eyes and spilled down the sides of her face much like a river of sorrow flowing from a broken heart._

_Skipper enveloped her in his flippers once again, and sat down slowly on the seat of the plane. Johnson was busy flying the plane, so Manfredi decided to offer his leader what support he could. He wasn't exactly the most comfortable around kids, or the most sensitive for that matter,but he thought he'd give it the best he could._

_Skipper could feel the young child trembling against his chest._

_"Is-Is he... Dea-Dea-Dea-"_

_"Shh..."_

_Skipper shushed her, rocking the little one back in forth in hopes that it would bring Netra a bit of comfort._

_"Your father is a great Kung Fu __Master.... I'm sure he'll be fine."_

_Manfredi said, trying his best to make shave his harsh military tone into sounding sympathetic._

_"Will I ever...will I ever see-see him again?"_

_Skipper exchanged a look with his comrade, thought he hoped he had done a good enough job of keeping it hidden from Netra's naked eye. He did not want to lie to the little panda, but sometimes telling a small fib is much easier than delivering the devastation that follows a painful truth._

_"Of course...someday you will."_

_"When?"_

_Skipper swallowed uneasily. He had hoped she would have simply dropped the subject. Truth be told, he had no idea if Netra would ever see her father again, or if he would even live through the battle with Tai Lung. Shifu himself was not even certain that he would survive, and Skipper did not want to be the unlucky one to witness Netra's reaction, and devastation when she found out that she would never see her father again._

_"He's never coming back....is he?"_

_Netra asked softly. Her voice had fallen calm, yet it was filled with an ocean of the deepest sadness._

_Skipper paused...lost for words. He looked at Manfredi, hoping he would offer some sort of guidance. Instead, the cheetah only shifted uneasily in his place, and stared deep into the child's crystal eyes._

_"No, Netra...he's not coming back."_

_The words were spoken in a strict tone. Skipper knew Manfredi was never one for letting down a soft truth, though he figured he would at least try for a child. Skipper shot his recruit a cold glare. He knew that the impression, the impact it would leave on Netra would imprint in the little panda's mind, haunting her for the rest of her life._

_Netra reburied her face into the penguins chest... Skipper could not be sure if this was an act of retreat from a cruel world, or because she felt safe with him. Nonetheless, soft sobs slowly grew into hysterical cries of sorrow that racked Netra's small form, and made her young heart bleed. She clung onto Skipper as if he would fade away the moment she let go...the same she had done to Master Shifu hours earlier._

_For what seems like years, but in actuality were mere hours, Skipper rubbed the child's back and held her close. He allowed her to keep her face buried into his feathers, and whispered gentle words every once and while, whenever her sobs would grow louder. All the while Netra would keep repeating the same heartbreaking phrase over and over again...._

_"__Why...? Why did he leave me?!"_

_Eventually though, Netra cried had herself to sleep. She presently lay cradled securely in Skipper's protective flippers, buried into the warmth of his embrace..safe._

_"Don't you worry about a thing little panda...I won't let anything happen to you...I promise."_

_

* * *

_

_If I had told you  
You would have listened  
You had stayed  
You would be here forever  
Never went away  
It would never have been the same  
All our time  
Would have been in vain  
Cause you had to go._

_~Within Temptation.  
_


End file.
